


Predator & Prey

by Mystic_Ender



Series: One, Two, Three [1]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: District 12 (Hunger Games), Hunger Games-Typical Death/Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27498061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Ender/pseuds/Mystic_Ender
Summary: **EDITED**The Capitol had always been predators. For as long as Catherine had lived, that much she had known. She had seen them take from her District, leaving nothing behind other than grief, hurt, and sadness. They were wolves, hunting down those that didn't deserve it, and they laughed loudly at the pain that followed. They never cared, and they never would.Which, was why she had thrown herself right into their jaws the moment her family was threatened.She would rather die to them than let them drag someone from her again.
Series: One, Two, Three [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013622
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8
Collections: The Hiraeth Timeline





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, oh boy!! Not me actually going absolutely apeshit!!
> 
> Okay so, before we start. Please note this essentially heavily follows the book. I know, it can be boring, and it was probably already heavily overdone. But, by Book Two, which I will start writing soon enough, is when things will start getting actually interesting. So, stick around. Read. Maybe get attached to the characters.
> 
> And most importantly. Enjoy!

Predator and Prey.

It’s how it had always been. 

Though, the predator had always changed during her short, mostly miserable, years. As she grew up, she had been taught that the predators were often the Capitol. They took from your district, leaving nothing behind but grief most of the time. They took from you, leaving only but fear behind in thanks. It often remained that way as she was prey in their game herself now, since the age of twelve. Her heart always pumped hard in her chest as they dug through the papers on that stage, a smile on the host’s face as they read the name aloud. So far, she had been lucky. It had never been her. But, there had been a time it had been her best friend called. She had been lucky, he had come back, but… it had been at a cost.

But, there were times where the predator changed. It was rare, of course. Though when it did, it was never what you expected it to be. Most of the time it ended up being hunger, cold, or whatever accidents the mine brought along. Her twin siblings had succumbed to that predator, the mines dragging them down in their depths and having collapsed upon them. Her mother had fallen to hunger, during a time where her father worked his ass off to bring whatever food he could to the table, and that food often went to the two of them. She had passed away during the night, and since then, it had been her father, her brother, and her. It was hard, but they made due.

Which, was how she had picked up hunting. She taught herself, the best she could. Her father made her a bow, gave it to her as a present one morning of The Reaping, years before she turned twelve. It wasn’t that hard, considering. It was a lot of being quiet, a lot of sneaking through the shadows and branches and making sure you didn’t miss. The soft breathing that came with hunting, the slow down of the world around her as she aimed, had always calmed her down for one reason or another. Maybe it was the repetition of it, calming down her hands and making them stop shaking from the constant fear that one day she would come back to find either her father or brother dead from hunger. While it was less than likely now, after all these years, it still remained a fear, one that would never truly go away.

She had hunted alone for a long time until she met Gabe. Mostly by accident. She must have been ten, and he was only eleven. He looked like one of those kids that came from a richer family but who had needed to learn to be poor because of some tragedy or something along those lines, and that's what he was. He had been oddly skinny when she had met him, though he was still really strong, that she had learned quickly. He had taken her wrist in his hand as she tried to touch one of his traps, a rather fat rabbit hanging from it. She didn’t have the plan in mind to steal, she knew how much food was valuable and she wasn’t the type to take it away from someone, but he had thought she would.

“Stealing is punishable by death, you know,” Gabe had hissed at her, his eyes blazing in quiet anger as he stared her down. He had been way taller than her already, and she could remember feeling like prey. Something she had never felt before and would start feeling more regularly soon enough as the years went by. Though, he had quickly released her. “What’s your name?”

“I wasn’t about to steal.” She had argued, rubbing at her wrist as she looked away from him and at the still hanging rabbit that would soon be taken away from the trap that had killed it. It was well made, and she could admire that much. Her voice had then lowered after that, as if the boy having her name would bring her more trouble than she probably was already in. “My name’s Catherine.”

And thus, had begun their friendship. It was one of the best things that had happened to her, even though she would never admit it aloud if only to avoid making Gabe’s ego get bigger than it already was. She had watched him go through the games every day when he was thirteen, she had bitten her nails in worry, and she had been both relieved and heartbroken when he had won and came back as a shell of himself. She had witnessed him close himself off, little by little. It terrified her, and she did her best at being there.

She hoped it wouldn’t be her turn when the day of The Reaping came.

It was her second-to-last year. She was seventeen, and it would be her brother’s first true Reaping, where his name would be among all the others. Though there would be high chances he would never be picked, considering his name was only written one time. She wasn’t as stressed as she should be, as she walked out of her home, into the field, and into to forest to meet up with her best friend.

“Hey, Bastard.” She greeted with a small grin, seeing he was waiting in their usual spot. He looked… well. As down as he usually was at this time of the year. Could you blame him? It was the day his fate had been signed, it had been the day he had been chosen against his will. It was also the day he would see the people who would be sent to the slaughter, who almost always died in the most gruesome ways no matter how much advice he gave and how many sponsors he gathered. She plopped down on the ground next to him and dropped her bow and arrows next to her with little to no care. It had gone through worse. “...How are you feeling?”

“How do you think?” He laughed out, though it sounded fake. It was the type of laughter that came with pain. It wasn’t the first time she heard it, but it still hurt just as much. She wished she could do more to help, even if she knew nothing could help the pain that came with murdering innocents that didn’t want to be there as much as you were. Though, he quickly moved on from it, and punched her shoulder lightly, before bringing out a warm loaf of bread, an arrow sticking through it. “Look what I caught!”

“God, you’re so fucking dumb.” She laughed as she took the bread in her hands and removed the arrow from it. It was a real bakery bread. Gabe was able to afford it and it probably was almost nothing to him now but to her? To her this was more than she could probably ever afford. He had tried helping her family out, but she refused it every time. She didn’t need it. She made them go by just fine, with her father’s help and her brother’s goat. She dug through her bag and got a simple brie cheese out. “I guess we got lunch covered.”

He smiled, and they quickly went to work. It wasn’t a big lunch, and it wasn’t that fancy, but it was enough. Besides, she would eat again soon enough, once she got back home after spearing a fish or two for dinner. Maybe get some strawberries, too. Her father enjoyed them a lot, and besides, it would be good to celebrate with them when (not if, when. She learned to think as positively as possible.) her and Marcus would get out of this year’s Reaping without having been selected.

“...Hey, Catnip?” Gabe asked after a few moments of silence, looking from their spot and over the city. People weren’t that discernable from here, and if they were, they looked like ants. They should maybe be concerned about how far away they were, considering the beasts that roamed the forest, but they didn’t care that much at the moment. “How different would our lives have been had we left when we were sixteen?”

“...I don’t know,” She admitted quietly, looking over the city, breathing slow and relaxed. They both had thought about leaving when they were sixteen. Just. Getting away from the districts, living in the woods, and doing literally anything else other than worry every day about what the Capitol would do next. But one thing had held them back. Responsibility. Gabe took care of his sister, and Cath had her little brother and father to care for. “I think the stress would have still been there. But… I don’t know. Maybe we would have been happier.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He had replied simply, before getting back up and offering a hand to help her up, before grabbing his bag, where what they had hunted was safely stocked away for the way back. “We should go back.”

The way back was a blur. Getting ready was a blur. She could faintly remember her father bringing out one of her mother’s old dresses for her, she could faintly remember her hair being brought in a tight bun on top of her head, some of the curls being braided in a tiny braid to be pinned around the base of the said bun. It was elegant, she supposed. She looked a lot more like her mother in that instant than she did in years. Her father had shed tears, though what they were for, she was unsure. But she still smiled at him and squeezed his hand, before leaving the house with her brother's hand into hers. 

The next thing she knew, she was upfront, with the oldest ones, ready for the Reaping to start. Her little brother was all the way in the back, with the youngest of the lot. Gabe wasn’t with her. Of course, he wasn’t. He had done his games already, he had won. He was sitting on the stage, next to the hostess, some skinny woman with a bright pink wig and an apple green suit. It was an odd choice of color, and it was bright, too bright, against her pale white skin. The mayor was there, too. A man named Henry, who she sold some of the strawberries to, sometimes. His daughter, Charlie, was nice. She hung out with her sometimes, during school. Though they kept quiet most of the time.

The overly happy woman skipped her way from her spot and to the mic, once it was her time to shine. Her overly bright smile seemed out of place in this district, where the bright colors she wore were often rare, if only for how expensive they tended to get. The softer colors were less expensive and less… tacky. She tapped the mic a few times before laughing and doing her usual greeting. 

“Happy Reaping! And may the odds ever be in your favor!” She giggled out, like an overly happy child that had eaten too much sugar that morning. It was annoying, considering how grim the situation would turn for some of them. After all, she wasn’t the one that had lived through Reapings, shook in her boots at the thought of being called. “Let’s change things around, this year! What if we went men first, yes?”

That wasn’t the usual. But… she supposed a little change couldn’t hurt, could it?

The woman’s hand went into the urn, and she dramatically spun it around in there, before taking out a paper, and unfolded it way slower than she should have, before reading the name.

“Marcus Harrison!”

She froze. The world around her seemed to have frozen. Yet, it was still moving, as her shaking brother moved from the ranks to the murmurs of the people, and slowly started making his way towards the stage.

No.

Nononono.

Not again.

_Not again._

“Marcus!” Her voice cracked. “Marcus!”

She moved out of the crowd, and towards her brother. She took him sharply by the shoulders and pushed him behind her, and she was aware that it barely did nothing, considering he was slightly taller than she was. Though it made her feel safer, as if she was protecting him from the predators that smiled, their white teeth gleaming under the sunlight, their cackles loud and booming as kids died in the arena. She wouldn’t let it be her brother this time around. She wouldn’t let it.

“I volunteer.” She realized she sounded a lot more confident than she was. ”I volunteer as tribute.”

And just like this, she threw herself in the predator’s jaws.


	2. Part Two

_“Sweetheart, you know the rules, you can’t- you can’t replace someone that isn’t the same gender as you are-”_

_“If she wants to volunteer instead of this boy, then let her. Just pick the name of another boy in there, and be done with it!”_

_…_

_“Lukas Rivera.”_

Those were the words that passed again and again in her head. The rest she could barely remember from trying to hold back the tears, and fighting to keep on the mask of coldness on her face, knowing full well everyone would be watching. Everyone from her district, and everyone from the others after that. They would be watching her, and she couldn’t allow herself to appear weak from the start. She needed a shot at this, even if some part of her knew that she would probably be shot and killed by the end of her first week in the arena. Or stabbed. Or poisoned. Anything of the sort, really. She just hoped it would be merciful, and far from ugly for her family's sake. 

Then, came the moment that she was brought to the room she had already been in once before. The room she had been in when it was Gabe’s turn for the Games. He had sat there, and she had let her anger out. Could you blame her? Probably not. It was her turn to sit there, though, and live through the disappointment her family would bring to her. Disappointment that the only girl left of the family was about to be sent in an arena filled with other prey to fight and defend herself for the entertainment of others.

“Why’d you do it?” Her brother asked through tears, sitting close next to her and burying his head in her shoulder. Her father was sitting on her other side, and had an arm around her shoulders, almost protectively. He knew his daughter would be gone the moment they left, or soon after. He knew he would probably never see her again. He knew he would most likely only have one of his children left. “You didn’t have to take my place-”

“You’re my little brother,” She answered simply, and planted a kiss on his short curls. Most of his head was shaved, whatever hair was left was cut really short, and curled only but a little bit. It fit him well. A hand went to rub at his shoulder, trying to be as reassuring as she could be at that moment. She knew the pain that came with losing siblings, with losing family. She knew the pain that came with saying goodbye. She knew what it was like, she could remember her sobs when she found out her siblings died, when she found her mother's cold body in their bed one morning. “It’s my job.”

Marcus only cried harder.

“You know where my bows are in the forest, okay? You know how to hunt. You two will be fine while I’m gone.” She continued, trying hard not to cry herself as her brother broke down even more. She looked up to her father, who looked close to tears, too. He rarely talked, anymore. Ever since his wife died, ever since his twin children died, he has rarely talked. When it did, it was bare necessities. She missed his voice, she missed his soft singing around the house in the morning. She wished she could have heard it one last time before leaving. “Take care of each other. Don’t grieve me.”

“As long as you promise to fight out there, Ladybug.” Her father’s voice was rough from disuse. Though, his voice was just as she remembered it. Warm, and oddly comforting in the sense it always remained calm no matter the situation. Sure, he could get angry, but those were rare times. He hugged both his children close, and planted a quick kiss on his daughter’s forehead. “Fight. I know you can make it out. It’s just like hunting, yeah?”

“I promise.”

The Peacekeepers took them away soon after that, and she wished she could have gotten more time. One more night, mayhaps. She wished she had gotten one more night to sleep in the same bed as her father like she did when she was a smaller child, afraid of the shadows and whatever her dreams hid. Monsters the size of buildings, ready to swallow her whole. She always hid in her parents’ covers when those nightmares struck. 

Only two people had visited after that. The first, surprisingly, was Lukas’s mother. The woman looked like she had cried as she entered the room, clutching in her hands a small paper bag that she handed over to Catherine before sitting a good distance from her.

“Cookies?” Cath said in light disbelief as she looked inside but still smiled at the sweet smell that came from it. Was there chocolate in there? She hadn’t eaten chocolate in years. Literal years. The last time… God, the twins were still alive. They had put money aside for Christmas and had brought home a bar of chocolate and orange to share between the lot of them. She hadn’t gotten a lot, but it was still so much more than she had expected. So, seeing chocolate in those cookies… it brought back bittersweet memories. “You didn’t have to. The most I’ve given to you were squirrels.”

“I knew the twins. They were good friends with one of my sons.” Mrs. Rivera smiled back, sad and kind despite the fact it was pretty much Cath’s fault that her son had been chosen. A second name had been picked in the urn, and Lukas would have been fine had it not happened. It would have been his last year, and he could have celebrated it safe at home with his family. But, it wouldn’t be the case now, would it? 

“Ah,” Cath whispered, and closed the bag back up, before nodding a little. She faintly remembered them mentioning knowing someone from the bakery. She didn’t know which one of the sons, but it made them happier, to have a friend. They were less down and had started joking again. “I still… can I pay you back in one way or another?”

“Take care of my son. Please.” Mrs. Rivera’s voice cracked, and it looked like she would cry again. Could you blame her? Not really. It wouldn’t surprise Catherine if her own father was in tears back home.

“...I’ll try.”

The second one had been Charlie. Charlie, who she rarely talked to, but who she had stuck around with for all their school years. She had only told her good luck, before promptly shoving in her hand a solid gold pin she had often worn. It had a Mockingjay on it, and it was… surprisingly quite heavy in her hand. Why Charlie had given it to her, she did not know, but Catherine knew she would wear it in the arena. A sign of her district. This would do nicely.

Then… came the train. Where she was properly face to face with Lukas Rivera. She knew who he was. Sure, she didn't know a lot about him, but she knew who he was. She always remembered who she was indebted to. And the Rivera boy? She would need to do a lot to repay him. He had saved her life, a long, long time ago. She must have been eight... nine years old. Her brother was starving, her father had trouble bringing enough money back home. They barely had enough to keep themselves warm. People kept raising prices on the food as winter neared, and it only brought starvation and death to people's homes. She never blamed them, though. Even merchants had families they needed to feed.

She had been trembling outside of the bakery, barely enough energy to keep shaking. Her limbs were heavy and tired, and she was seriously considering falling asleep right there, under the rain. She hadn't been able to sell anything, and she couldn't go back home without anything. So, she did what she did best. She hid away, to avoid giving others pain. If she died out there, instead of at home, maybe her family would hurt less. She wondered what death was like. Was it sweet? Was it warmer than it was in the moment? She wondered if it was like falling asleep, drifting off only to wake up in a better world, where the conditions weren't as harsh.

But, before she could even drift off and give up, a door slammed open, and the harsh voice of a man scolded a blond boy for a reason or another. She blinked her eyes open, eyelids rather heavy, and before she could even register it, two loaves were thrown in her general direction. Lukas was gone soon after that, and the only thing she could do was hide the bread under her shirt as she ran all the way back home, electricity coursing through her limbs. She had been given food. A chance to survive.

She wondered now though, what kind of game fate was playing for having thrown him on her path.

"You certainly have more manners than the other ones I've met before," Effie commented, looking at the two of them as she ate. "They ate like savages. Do they not know how to use utensils? They completely ruined my appetite."

Lukas stared at her for a moment, before putting his utensils down sharply and continued his lunch with his bare hands, with little to no care if sauce dripped on his shirt. His goal was to spite, and it was clearly working as Effie stared at him in horror.

"Oh, this is delicious," Cath smirked as she ripped parts of the tender meat off her plate and plopped them in her mouth, chewing and watching as Effie started staring at her, too. She finished her lunch like that, and tried not to cackle as the blond licked his plate at the end. Cath, in her case, simply cleaned her fingers off on the tablecloth.

"There's more, right?" Lukas pushed, plopping his elbows on the table, knowing full well this would irritate the hostess to no end. His fingers were still dirty. He was smirking, amusement making his eyes shine. 

"N-No, that was. That was all." Effie cleared her throat and quickly got up before excusing herself. "I'll go find your mentor."

When Effie was gone, Cath turned to look at Lukas, who still looked very much amused as he looked right back at her. Whether he remembered her or not, Catherine did not know, but she didn't care as she made a potential ally in this hell hole. Sure, she would have her best friend, but… one more person couldn't hurt.


	3. Part Three

She had never seen Gabe this angry at her. 

The only time he even looked at her, at the start, was when he needed answers based on performance so he could give proper advice, and even then, his words were cold and uncaring. It had hurt. It had hurt so much. She had thought she would have someone she knew in here, but as it turns out, she would be… alone. Or, well, mostly alone, if the friendship she was developing with Lukas meant anything. It seemed genuine, something that blossomed from both being stuck in a situation they did not want. He was nice if only a little… chaotic. Not that she minded. He was fun, and she had stayed up for a little part of the night to talk to him.

This might be the only reason she was still mostly sane as she stepped off the train, a blooming friendship keeping her sane as the other was (possibly) crumbling in front of her. It hurt that one of her longest friendships, one with someone she trusted so much when trusting was so hard in The Seam, was broken because she had decided to pull one of her stupidest ideas she's ever had. At the same time, who would approve of what she had done? Who would approve of throwing yourself in there, when you could have stayed home safe?

_**SCRRRRRRRATCH.** _

Catherine was broken out of her memories by the pain, and she bit on her lip harshly to keep herself from screaming. It hurt so much. Why the fuck did it hurt so fucking much? It was literally just… removing every hair from her body. Yep. Just that. It shouldn't hurt this much, she was just… sensitive. Yeah. That was it.

"Sorry, honey!" The woman with her ridiculous accent sighed out, before patting her leg lightly, making it sting. Cath winced a little from it. "You're just so hairy!"

Thanks, that certainly helped her self-confidence.

"The good news, though, is that there's only one leg left! Ready?" She asked, and didn't even wait for her nod before tugging and with one last scratch, removed the last row of hair to remove off her leg. 

She had gone through a whole transformation. It was scary, really. They had braided her hair, instead of simply cutting it, and the multiple braids were tied up on her head. She had never thought she would have her hairstyle like that at all. Her nails had been trimmed, every hair of her body had been removed, and they did… something… that had removed every smaller scale scars from her body. So the one on the back of her arm was gone, and so was the one on top of her foot from when she had fucked up as a kid and shot herself in the foot. Not her proudest moment.

And, all of this? This was only but the start. She had been told, rather coldly by Gabe, that she was planned to meet with her stylist. She hadn't been told about this process at all. Bastard could have at least given a hint. He may be trying to throw their friendship out the window, but he could have at least warned her for old time's sake! But noo, she got nothing but the information about her stylist, then was left all alone with this group of cackling colorful crows.

"There you go, honey!" The same one that had done her legs laughed out after they finished, having removed whatever stray hair was left and then put some sort of cream on her. The cream had helped the stinging. A lot. So. That hadn't been too bad.

"Thank you." She whispered, passing a finger over her braids, with a fake smile. She hoped her tone of voice and smile seemed genuine. "We rarely have time to doll ourselves up in the District Twelve, you see…"

"Of course!" The walking green apple squeaked out, hand going at her mouth as she nodded in pure sympathy. Apparently, her fake gratefulness was believable. Thank fucking God for that. "It was a pleasure, sweetheart."

"And don't worry! When Fritz will be done with you, you'll be breathtaking!" The other colorful crow reassured, with a small nod.

"Of course! Without all this dirt, hair, and scars… you're not bad at all!" Flavius added with a small encouraging tone, though the only thing it did was sting her feelings. She had never found her scars that bad… "Let's call Fritz!"

They all flocked out of the room and left her completely alone and naked in this room. She crossed her arms over her chest, at least in a way to feel less vulnerable. She hated this feeling. She despised it to hell and back. She didn’t want to feel like she was weak, and she had strongly disliked the fact that she apparently had needed to be naked for them to work on her. So, three people saw her without any clothes, and she felt, well… a little violated. She would put the bathrobe back on, but she had a feeling she would be asked to remove it immediately after. So, she stood there, at least her breasts hidden by her crossed arms. This was better than nothing.

The person that entered the room after that, was a lot less extravagant than she had expected. Their long, dark brown hair that looked almost black, was tied back in a simple ponytail. Their fringe hung a little over their eyes, but, the emerald green of their eyes was still just as vibrant. There were simple golden painted flowers on their cheekbones, making them look like a walking painting. Their clothing was completely black, though she could see the complicated motifs in the leather from here. Their whole outfit was simple but striking. It was a lot less extravagant than what she had expected from someone of The Capitol if she was honest with herself. 

“Hello, Catherine. I’m Fritz, your stylist.” They said simply, with a reassuring smile, as they moved towards her. Their voice didn’t have the usual accent thing that The Capitol had a tendency to talk with, but there was still a faint hint of it when they said some words. It was more charming than the ones who actually spoke with the full-on, strong accent. This was faint and it didn’t ruin your ears after five words. They turned around her carefully, looking at the work the three colored crows did, though she didn’t feel… as violated than with the other ones. “Who had done your hair, for The Reaping? Before they changed it?”

“My father,” Catherine answered, her voice wavering a little. She hadn’t meant it. But, she missed her father already. A lot. He had taken the time to learn how to do her hair once Eva died, and he had always bothered to learn more than one style for her as she grew up, to fit what she had a tendency to wear. Though what her hair had been like on the train before it was braided by the preparation team, was how her hair had been during her first Reaping. It had made her look a little younger than she was, maybe, and it had made her look a lot like her mother, but it had a weird sentimental value.

“It was beautiful, really.” Fritz approved with a small smile. “He’s very talented.”

“Are you new?” Catherine asked after a little while, squinting at the person. They really didn’t look familiar. Someone this simple clothed, someone who wasn’t as flamboyant as the other stylists of the Capitol would have surely caught her attention. And, surely, Gabe would have mentioned them to her in one way or another. Before… before, well. Before he started trying to ruin their friendship, though she had no clue as to why. “I don’t remember seeing you.”

“Yes, yes. It’s my first year in the games.” They answered, nodding.

“So… that’s why they gave you District Twelve. They always assign us to the newbies. We’re… less desirable, after all.”

“No, no I asked for it. Do put your bathrobe back on, please.” Was the only answer they gave, with little to no explanation. Once Catherine had followed the instruction, she was brought to another room, sat down with some food, and almost immediately before she could start eating, Fritz went straight to the point. “Now, tell me, Catherine. How do you feel about fire?”

\---

“You look like a peacock with rabies,” Was the first greeting she had gotten from Lukas on that Chariot, the both of them in similar outfits. It was different than everyone else. The other selected all had different outfits than their counterparts, while… while Lukas and she both had something similar. It felt like a small rebellion, in a weird way. Them being similar while everyone was against the other. Lukas looked a lot different than he had been on the train. His teeth weren’t crooked anymore, his acne was gone, and his hair had been cleaned and cut. She supposed she hadn’t been the only one to go through the complete change in appearance. Her braided hair, the healed scars, the removed hair… yay to being tortured.

“And you look like a white girl’s dog that they named snowball,” She snapped back in response, though her tone was teasing and amused. This was nice, to have an unexpected friendship in this hell hole. She climbed on the Chariot and tried not to look irritated at the last minute fixings from Fritz and their colleague. They were nice, really, but she was tired of being constantly touched. Once they were gone, she leaned towards the taller boy. “How do you feel about the fire thing?”

“Bet we’re gonna be burned alive before the beginning of the games,” He snorted and shifted a little, apparently not the only one uncomfortable with the whole fire concept. Sure, they had been told the fire would be fake, but it didn’t mean they weren’t terrified. Flames were dangerous, they had been taught that their whole lives, and now they would just… casually be set aflame? This seriously didn’t spike her anxiety in any way. Nope. “I ruin your cape if you ruin mine.”

“Deal.” She snorted and grinned, though she was still just as tense at the idea of the fire. “God, I know Gabe said to do what we were told to do, but I don’t think he fucking considered fire out of all damn things.”

“Explains why he’s not around,” Lukas commented, in light amusement. “He’s just as flammable as us. How good of a human torch do you think he’d be?”

That made her burst into proper laughter. God, maybe the joke was a little morbid, considering their situation and the things her best friend had gone through, but it was still funny as hell. The mental image of it was amusing, to say the least. Lukas was laughing too, and they were still giggling when it was their turn to enter the streets. The night had fallen and made their flames appear brighter than they were. It was beautiful, she supposed, despite how scared it made her. Before their Chariot got on the street, Lukas took her hand in his own, and she looked a little confused as she stared at them, and then back at the blond, who just shrugged and mouthed ‘Fritz.’ in answer. Yeah, that sounded like an idea Fritz would have to make the whole thing look better. So she just shrugged and squeezed a little, as they were brought out and into the streets.

She had never been cheered for, before.

Though, she supposed the effect of the whole thing helped a lot.

She was beautiful, she decided, as she stared at herself on the screen. The flames made her shine, it made her look like a blazing star, and she smiled because of it. She looked around the crowd, the sea of faces she didn’t even recognize, and she waved. She still squeezed Lukas’s hand in light reassurance, considering no matter how much cheering she was getting, the eyes of the crowd still made her nervous. She smiled, bright and beaming despite the fact she would probably die soon in the arena, and celebrated as they moved through the city. 

She wouldn’t be forgotten. 

She didn’t want to be forgotten.


	4. Part Four

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” She screamed at Lukas the moment they had gotten away from the elevator. She had shoved him, and he had fallen on the broken pot that had also fallen along with him. She was shaking. She was so, so angry. At him, a little, but mostly at the situation. She would be stuck pretending, pretending to be something that she was not. The week had gone well, she hadn’t needed to pretend to be friends with Lukas, after all, they really were. They had gone through the activities together, and he had cheered her up when she thought she had fucked her situation up by shooting at the Judges. But this? This was too much. She wasn’t in love, despite her reaction that night. “You had no fucking right to say that! None!”

She barely registered the words that followed through her anger, making her ears almost ring. She could see Effie and Fritz help Lukas up, she could see Lukas explaining the situation to them, and she could see when Gabe turned to her, looking both disappointed and a little bit angry too. A familiar sight that she had learned to see during the week. He had eventually started talking to her again, but he was definitely pissed, and she dreaded each talk she had with him. He had been there, she supposed, but it certainly did not feel like their usual friendship. She was hurting to hell and back, and the fact that he barely seemed concerned about the fact that the fake love thing had definitely hurt, and only seemed bothered by the current situation, definitely made it worse.

“You pushed him?” His voice was cold. As it usually was, these days. She didn't know how many times she had heard that tone of voice, now.

“Was it your idea?” She snapped back, not even answering. He knew she did. Impulsive decisions made when she was angry was one of her specialties. This was one of those many decisions. “Was it your damn idea to make me look like an idiot in front of the entire country?!”

“It was impulsive,” Lukas muttered. He was trying to remove pieces of the pot from his hands, and he winced every time he removed an especially tiny one that had remained stuck deep into the wound. It wasn’t pretty to see. “The guy pushed, so I had to come up with something.”

“You could have continued denying it!” She was shaking a little, now. Her anger was turning to light panic. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Cath, shut up.” Gabe hissed and rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he glared a little at the whole situation. He looked done, so, so done and she didn't know how she should be taking it. “Do you not realize what opportunity he just fucking gave you? He just gave you something you could have never gotten by yourself!”

“He made me look weak!”

“He made you desirable! Cath, you needed some serious fucking help!” He scoffed, and continued talking, with little to no care on if his next words would sting or not. He was obviously in a mentoring mindset, and he did not care about what he was saying and whether it would hurt or not. She was tired of seeing that side of him, that angry, tired, detached side of him. She didn't recognize him. “You were as interesting as dirt before he declared loving you! They all have their attention on you now. The cursed lovers of District Twelve!”

“I don’t even love him!” There was sadness, now. Sadness, hurt, anger, and panic. A horrible cocktail that swam inside her heart, making everything hurt. She wanted to cry, but she knew she couldn’t. Not now. Not in front of him, when he was like this. “I’m into women, you know that!”

“We don’t fucking care, Catherine!” He yelled. He was angrier, now. Irritated. That much she knew. She just hoped it wouldn't escalate more. She remembered all those times the both of them were angry out of their minds, and the only way they knew how to take it out was a physical fight. She didn't want it to end in such a way, not here, even if it was against the rules. “It’s a show! What matters is the damn way people perceive you. The only thing we got from your interview is that you were a nice girl, and even that was a damn miracle! But now? Now we think you’re a heartbreaker! What do you think will get you more sponsors!?”

“He’s right, Cath, you know.” Fritz approached her, and put an arm around her shoulders, bringing her in a light side hug in reassurance. They had probably seen her panic, they had probably figured out how hurt she was. But, the hug did not help. It only made her feel worse. So, she pushed the taller person away, and immediately went to her room, not even bothering to go eat with them. She was hungry, but she didn’t have the energy to pretend she was fine with all of this.

She angrily removed her dress once she was in her room, and dumped it on the bed, before running for the bathroom. She pushed whatever button there was on the shower, and just let the warm water do its job of removing sweat and makeup from her. She had allowed herself to cry, as the water fell on her. She had allowed her tears to fall freely, and make her body shake. All the hurt of the past week, the fear, and the tears from her earlier panic. It was a mix of all of that that was falling down her cheeks, mixing itself with the warm water, and going down the drain. She knew the games would be bad. She knew they would be. But she had thought that at least this week of preparation would give her a chance at saying goodbye, making last memories. She supposed not. She supposed she wouldn’t get that at all.

When she finally got out of the shower, she felt exhausted. She changed into her pajamas and slid under the covers, but… her body refused to fall asleep. Her mind was speeding too much, despite the exhaustion that came with the tears. Lukas and she were both gay as fuck. That much she knew. But his decision, his stupid fucking decision, it still hurt to hell and back. It still hurt so badly. Because it would mean pretending to be something that she was not. It would mean lying to herself, lying to her family, despite the fact that they knew she was not into men. They knew, but it still felt like she was lying to them.

She could remember her first girl crush.

It was a tall girl in her year at school. She had wavy black hair that fell down to her hips, and she always kept it in a high braid. She had high cheekbones and a smile that felt like the sun. Her forest green eyes shone under the light, and she had always remained kind despite the fact she had lost her father to the same accident that had killed her twin siblings. She gave her food to her younger sisters, and despite how hungry she probably was, she had remained sweet and she hadn’t turned mean. Every day, Catherine watched her from afar. 

She should have made her move at her when she had gotten the chance, she could remember thinking. She had become weaker and weaker every day, and despite how bright her smiles were, you could see the strain that came with them. You could see how tired she became, you could see how staying awake in class was becoming harder and harder as hunger shook her. She had taken tesserae, that year, and it had made her stronger for a little while, but it had caused her to have one more name in the urn.

One name too much, she supposed, as she had been taken when she was fourteen and Cath thirteen. Catherine could remember the shock on her face, the fear and anger, she could remember her fighting the whole time she was taken to the stage. She was shaking up there, and she had been crying. Catherine had watched the games every time she could to see her in there, and she had witnessed her death. She had seen her die from the same thing she had fought here, hunger taking her away during the night. She supposed it was better than dying tortured by the hand of one of the Careers. It still hadn’t made it any less horrible.

Her hands gripped her blankets tightly, and when she realized that three hours had passed and that she wouldn’t fall asleep any time soon, she slid out of bed. Her bare feet were cold, and she should maybe put socks on or something, but she didn’t. It made her feel a little bit more alive than she was at the moment, physically exhausted from the tears. 

She went to the balcony first, and stayed for a little, looking down at the still buzzing city. The city that would be watching her, and laughing as she shot down another prey. The predators would be watching her, and she could do nothing to stop it. She eventually turned away from the sight, feeling a little sick, and went back inside. She should try sleeping again. But… she knew she wouldn’t. And she had yet to apologize to Lukas. So, she slowly made her way towards his room, and knocked on his door, before entering.

He wasn’t sleeping.

“...Cath?” He asked in slight confusion as he watched her from his spot in his bed, a hand going to rub at his eyes. They were bandaged, now. Tomorrow they would be in the arena, and he was already injured. This was her fault. She had probably doomed him already, more than they both already were from being selected. And even then, his selection was also her fault. Everything was because of her, wasn’t it? God. “What are you doing here?”

“I can’t sleep,” She explained and moved to sit at the edge of the bed, crossing her legs on top of the covers and staying a good distance away from him. Mostly out of respect. But also because if she felt like she got too near, she would fuck up again and make his situation even worse than it currently was. She drummed her fingers on her leg, nervousness coursing through her veins and making her a little less tired because of it. “I’m sorry about pushing you. I didn’t- I didn’t want to injure your hands or anything, I was angry-”

“I know. Don’t worry about it.” He said tiredly and watched her from his spot on the bed. Silence stretched between them, maybe a little awkward, considering her outburst. She still felt bad, and maybe he could see that. She didn’t know. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“I can’t disconnect my brain. Like. At all.” She laughed a little, sad, and pathetic. She rubbed at her eyes and tried not to cry again. She hated this. She hated this whole damn situation. She didn’t ask for it. She hadn’t asked for her brother to be named. “I keep thinking about… well. Everything. Tomorrow, our game of pretending…”

“It’s not like I love you that way, anyway. It’s not gonna happen.” He said slowly. He… sounded unsure as to what to say. What could one say, about this whole thing?

“I know.” She sighed, and flopped back, letting her back hit the mattress, to stare at the ceiling of Lukas’s room. Despite the stress of what could happen tomorrow, being around her friend helped. A lot. She was calming down a little, but she was still scared out of her mind. “It’s just. It feels like lying.”

Silence.

“You should try and get some sleep,” He finally said after a little while and yawned. He raised an arm, as if waiting for… something. Cath stared in slight confusion, and he just rolled his eyes and dragged her over. “Come on. Sleep, you dumb whore.”

“Only if you try and sleep too, you dumbass gay.” She grumbled, but just. Accepted that they were cuddling now. It did help a little, she supposed. It was reassuring. Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed, slowly drifting off. “Gnight, asshole.”

“Good night.”


	5. Part Five

The Games had begun in a bloodbath. 

She supposed it was tradition.

It doesn’t mean it didn’t bring her down to earth real quick, the reality of the situation hitting her over the head harsher than it should have. She was stuck in a game of life or death. She thought she would be fighting among other prey, but as it turns out, she was this time around both predator and prey. What she would be decided with her decisions. Would she team up and hunt down tributes like the Careers often did, or would she hide and run? The decision was pretty much taken for her when the boy she had been fighting with died in front of her, him having taken a knife in the back of the head. She hadn’t even gotten the chance to grab the bow and arrows as she ran, with nothing but a backpack.

But then, she realized she didn’t find any source of water. One piece of advice Gabe had given that she hadn’t listened to. Another one, actually, considering she had been told to run but instead had decided to snatch one thing before running. She wondered how angry he was at her now. She wondered if it was even possible for him to be more annoyed at her than he already was, actually. So, she slowly dehydrated. The day had been hot, and she had sweat. Her tongue was rough, her lips were scarily dry. She had nearly no saliva.

She stumbled through the forest, trying to concentrate on her breathing and not on how thirsty she was. Her limbs hurt, and she felt like she could collapse any second. Somehow, this was worse than the hunger she had felt so often back in District Twelve. She wondered if the lake was the only source of water in the whole arena. It couldn’t be, right? Otherwise, there wouldn’t be this many animals around. There had to be a source of water somewhere. She would need to try and find one as quickly as possible, otherwise, she would die. And soon. But… some part of her brain kept spinning the idea around of the lake being the only source of water. It would make sense, considering it was a good way to get fights started. The Games were all about that. Fighting for food, sources of water, or straight up just fighting for the sake of it.

But, she had to push it another day. She had to. The night was slowly falling, and she sighed as she decided to stop for the night. She could continue her search tomorrow. She just hoped she hadn’t fucked herself up by walking too far away from the nearest source of water, as she climbed the tree and found a way to set her sleeping bag and backpack. She placed herself in it carefully and tied something around her legs to avoid herself falling and dying simply because she shifted and fell from the tree, like a dumbass. This would certainly be an embarrassing death.

She allowed her eyelids to close, and she breathed slowly, until…

**CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!**

This wasn’t the sound of a branch that was crunched as you walked. This was something that was being cut from the tree willingly, and she freaked out a little at how close it was. She sat up straight from her sleeping bag, grateful something was holding her there without falling because she knew she would have otherwise. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she listened carefully, breath shaky as the possibility of her being found and killed was becoming more and more likely. Then, the fire began, and her stress level spiked through the fucking roof. What the fuck were they doing? The light and smoke would bring someone around, and that someone was most likely the group of Careers. There were chances that they found that person, killed them, and then she would be next. She would have no chance as she was tied there. Though she knew she was hidden well enough, there were chances. _There were chances._

She stayed there for two hours, debating climbing down and slicing the person’s throat to save herself for a little longer. Though, she knew she would probably prefer running. She was about to grab the knife she had gained from the Bloodbath when the choice was made for her. 

The girl’s scream echoed around in the night, and she almost wanted to cry at the laughter that followed. Laughter of victory, laughter that followed a successful hunt. She hated that she knew exactly what it was like, considering all the illegal hunting she did back in her District. It was laughter that followed the unlikely chance of catching something big and rare, something that would bring good money and a good potential of food on the table. Of course, this time it was different. It was laughter that brought someone closer to a win.

“Only but eleven left!” One screamed in victory, and the other laughter that followed gave her an idea of how many people were there. This was a group of Careers. They hunted together, like a pack of wolves. A pack of wolves that ran after scared bunnies, that hadn’t asked to be there. Somehow, she had wished they hadn’t formed alliances like all the other groups of Careers had done in the past, but she knew it was hopeless. In every game, except maybe a rare one or two, the Careers stuck together, as if it would bring them closer to a win and their whole group would be given a crown. No. They had always killed each other by the end, blood running down their hands as tears followed at the loss of friends.

She stayed frozen there as she listened to them searching the girl’s body. Their frustrated sighs showed that they had found nothing interesting. Catherine wondered if it was the little girl from District Eleven, the little twelve years old named Rose. She had walked on that stage in a dress that had her namesake, the skirt had been carefully sewn so that it looked like a bright pink rosebud. It had made her look innocent and not harmful at all, which she supposed could have been useful in the arena. But… no. She seemed more sneaky than that. No way she would have lit a fire in the middle of the night like that. At least, she hoped.

“We should move before the body starts smelling.” This sounded like the pig looking guy from District Two. He had tried flirting with her. Hadn’t ended well. She wouldn't be going into details, but she certainly wondered for a while if she would be eliminated from the Games before it even started because of it. But she hadn't, and she had been quite smug the rest of the week.

They started moving away from the body and towards her tree. Had they seen her? No, there was no way. They would be fighting as to who gets the kill otherwise, see who would get another mark on their kill count. The kill count that could possibly get them more sponsors than they probably already had. She was still scared out of her mind, and when they moved past, she was relieved for a little while, until they brought out the electric torches. Her breathing seemed even louder, and she wondered if they would hear her. They stopped.

“...We should have heard the canon, shouldn’t we?”

“Yeah. I don’t see what stops them from coming to get it.”

“Unless she’s still alive?”

“No. No. She’s dead, I killed her myself.”

“So what are they waiting for to shoot the canon?”

“One of us should go back and make sure the work was well done.”

“Yeah… it would be a shame to have to hunt her down a second time.”

“And I’m telling you she’s dead!”

…

“We’re losing time! I’m gonna go kill her. After that, we move.”

_That was Lukas’s voice._

What the fuck was he doing with the Careers? She didn't think him to be the type to ally himself with them. She remembered Gabe had done it, due to survival reasons, and she wondered if that was the case for him too. Because he didn't seem to be the type to join them willingly, especially considering they were fervently hated back home since they always hunted District Twelve first. She didn't know what was his play, and she hoped he wouldn't die right away. She hoped his predator pretend was good enough to fool the pack of wolves that they were. She bit her lip hard when she heard him go back to kill the girl, she drew blood when she heard him come back and causing the shit-talking of the two of them to end.

She was shaking by the time they were gone. A mix of shock, lack of sleep, and dehydration. She held her tears as she climbed down, her stuff once again in her backpack. She looked towards the camera and grinned knowingly, hoping it would satisfy the viewers for a little longer. Them knowing she knew what they had said about her. She took a deep breath before going for the rabbits in the traps she had pulled up the night before, cooked them, then moved along, ignoring how the lack of water made her whole body hurt. She was in danger, that much she knew. If she didn’t find any water, and soon, she was dead by morning. 

Maybe sooner, if the number of times she stopped meant anything. She was huffing when she finally collapsed against a tree. She was coughing harshly as she brought her knees close to her chest. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Okay. Now, she had to find a solution. She could go back to the lake, she supposed, but it was too far away. She would be dead before she got there. Either of thirst or because someone found her. Literally, anyone would be able to kill her at this point. If she were to fall over, they could stab her, and she would be gone. Dead. Her body would be sent home, and her family would grieve despite her asking them not to. She would leave two best friends behind, the only other people she knew who would probably grieve her.

Then... then she had a lightning flash of a thought.

Gabe.

Gabe could send water.

“Gabe, I know you’re listening, you bastard!” She croaked out, before coughing harshly again. Fuck. “If you could send me some damn water, that’d be great!”

She waited. And waited. And waited. But… nothing came. Shit. She was really left to die out there, wasn’t she? Well. She already was, but in this moment, she really felt like nothing would be sent to her. Nothing would be given to her. She was left to die, in this place that was covered in mud and smelled like water lilies. 

_Mud. Water lilies._

Water! There was water near! She laughed as she got up, stumbling towards where the smell came from, almost crying as she dropped on her knees next to the source of water. Her shaking hands got the purifying kit out, along with her water bottle, that she filled up to the rim. She dropped a bit of the purifying stuff in there, waiting, and downed it almost desperately. She did it again, and again. Until she felt like she would throw up from the amount of water. She wouldn’t die. Not today. Her family wouldn’t grieve right away, thank fucking god for that. She sniffled as she filled up her water bottle again before putting it in her bag for later. She would be careful not to let it get too low. 

Now… what next. Get rest. Yeah. That would be good.

She tied her braids in a loose ponytail, before setting up camp for the night.

Such a shame she would wake to flames, not too long after.


	6. Part Six

Catherine was fucked. Simple as that.

She thought she had been safe after a little while of running from the damn wall of fire that had been going towards her, but as it turns out, she hadn’t been. She had stopped for a moment, and her calf ended up burned. Her hands were burned badly, too, and her braids had caught on fire at some point. She would need to undo them to see how short her hair had become, and she would need to possibly trim it, too. But first. First she needed to take care of her hands, and she hated how vulnerable she was, laying on the ground near the body of water, hands dunked in the fresh stream. She kept looking around and listening as her hands slowly stopped hurting like hell and back. 

She needed to take care of those. Badly. Otherwise, she didn’t know what it would do. Could wounds caused by burns become infected? She didn’t know. She doubted it, but she would rather be safe than sorry. So, she needed to find a way to clean her hands, and then look at the state of her leg. She was a little scared to do so, if she were being honest, considering her leg was the worse out of the lot if she compared the pain. Her hands hadn’t been too bad, she had been able to bear it, but her leg? Her leg hurt like a _bitch._

Her father would probably know herbs to help her heal that quickly. But here was the thing; her father wasn’t there. Her father had no way to guide her through the burns, telling her how bad it was, and what she needed to do to properly take care of it. She was alone. She truly was alone, and she didn’t know if she would be able to heal those damn burns. She needed to find a solution, at least until she remembered something or something was sent to her. Which, she hoped would be the damn case. She almost cried as she moved her hands away from the water to look over the burn. The skin was red and covered with harsh blisters. This wasn’t good. This was really no fucking good.

But, it wasn’t as bad as the boy that had once been brought to her father to be taken care of. The boy’s wound had been horrible, there was so much burnt skin, you were able to see the bone from how bad that damn thing was, and the only thing it had done was make her want to throw up. It wasn’t as bad as that, unlike the boy’s wound, she knew she would come back from it. She knew she would come back from that if she took care of it, unlike the other boy, who had passed away despite her father’s work to try and keep him alive. She just… she just needed to take care of it. She could do it. It couldn’t be that hard.

She took the knife in her still very much burnt hands and cut away the pant leg. The burn wasn’t too bad, maybe the size of her palm. There was no blackened skin. It could have been worse, she supposed, as she moved to put her leg in the water, at an angle so that the leather of her shoe wasn’t dipping too much in the water and risked soaking her feet. She couldn’t risk being cold once night fell because she hadn’t taken the time to dry up her socks and feet. Hypothermia was a danger too, after all. While her leg was dipping in the water, she decided to take that time to refill up her water bottle, and take care of her hair. She undid the many braids slowly but surely, and using the reflection of the water, she looked at the state of it. Okay. It was bad. She did a light sigh as she got her knife out, and proceeded to hack at it, making it short enough that she just needed to tie it in a very tiny ponytail on top of her head. She could cut it more properly later.

Now… now she needed to figure out her next move. She couldn’t stay here, she knew the Careers would find her eventually. But, every time she removed her legs from the water, it started hurting badly again. She couldn’t stay close and climb a tree either, she would be too exposed. So. She did the stupidest fucking decision out there and propped her bag up to lay against it, crossing her arms. She knew it would give Gabe a damn heart attack, but she didn’t care. She really did not fucking care at that moment, as she finally removed her leg out of the water to rest against her bag. 

And sure enough, she was right. The Careers were coming after her. Hurray.

They were too near for her taste, as she ran through the woods. She must have had, what? One minute ahead of them? Not enough. One minute was enough to sign her death warrant. She could be gone in less than an instant if they had a long-range weapon, which she knew there were high chances they did.

The wolves were on her tail.

She felt like a scared rabbit as she continued running, she felt like prey as she climbed the nearest tree desperately, trying to ignore the pain that shot through her leg and hands as she climbed high and higher, trying to get away from the group of predators that circled the tree, laughing at her situation. She panted a little as she sat on the nearest branch, looking down at them. She must be a good seven or eight meters up in the tree, and she knew they wouldn’t be able to get there. There was a reason why she was the one that climbed the trees to get fruits and eggs from nests when she was hunting with Gabe, back home. She was the smallest, and she was also the lightest out of the both of them. She was pretty sure that if that asshole had tried climbing a tree back in District Twelve, at least a good amount of branches would snap under him.

And, those Careers were just like him. They were all tall, ridiculously strong probably, and they were definitely too heavy to be able to get at her height. Lukas was the same, most likely, so she was safe. She was safe for now. Which, might be why she got a little cocky as she smiled down at them, grinning like a madwoman.

“Are you okay down there?” She asked, trying to sound as if she was concerned, but she knew the amusement was dripping through the words. She knew it would annoy the hell out of them, and sure it would probably bring her troubles, but she didn’t care. She was having the time of her life.

“Not too bad,” The pig looking guy from District Two answered. She wasn’t sure if he was frustrated or simply neutral and knowing about the situation, but she didn’t care. That was the one who had tried flirting with her, and she could (reluctantly) admire his courage to speak to her as if nothing happened. “And you?”

“Oh, I got a little hot during the night,” She shrugged, and she swore she could hear the satisfying laughter of the Capitol. Sure it disgusted her a little, but maybe it would allow her to get something in return. “It’s better here. You’re sure you don’t want to try and come up?”

“Give me a moment.”

“Try that, Cato,” The girl from District One suggested, trying to hand over the bow and arrows to the District Two boy. They had grabbed the bow and arrows. The damn bow and arrows that had been supposed to have been hers. Cath glared down at them, irritated to hell and back. She should have been the one to have them. She should have gotten them, despite knowing that this would have caused her to die from the damn start. Her smile got tighter, less cocky, and angrier.

“Nah, I’ll use my sword.” Cato pushed the bow and arrow away, and Catherine waited for him to start climbing before lifting herself up a little and continuing her own climb, humming as she did so, if only to annoy the other Careers even more. They got her bow and arrows, and she would make sure to make their night hell because of it. Motherfuckers. She continued through the tree like a damn squirrel, trying to push away the memory of Gabe calling her that, which had caused her to flip him off. She grinned a little but shook her head and pushed the memory away for now. It was not the time to get stuck in her memories.

She was ten meters higher in the tree when she heard a crack and looked back down, seeing Cato fall, arms flailing around as if the air would catch him and guide him back to the ground safely with no consequences. It, in fact, did not, as he slammed hard on the ground. She hoped it was the end of him and he wouldn’t get back up, she listened carefully for a canon shot, but was disappointed when Cato only groaned and got back up.

Then came Glimmer’s turn. The girl tried climbing, but had to stop quickly enough when the branches started cracking under her weight. Catherine was a good thirty meters up from the ground now, when Glimmer started shooting. Thankfully, it showed that she had never used a bow before, as the arrow only planted itself in the trunk next to her. It was close enough to her that she just hummed, took it out, and waved, still smiling cockily. Thank you for the arrow, Glimmer. Go fuck yourself, Glimmer. I won’t fucking miss you when you’re dead, Glimmer.

“Just let her stay the fuck up there! She won’t go away anyway. We can take care of her tomorrow morning.” Lukas was the one to say that, and a small part of her thanked him, while the other was stressing at the fact that it implied he wanted her dead, too. Surely... surely that wasn't the case, right? He was still following his lovestruck boy thing, right? She would rather not have to hunt him down and kill him. She didn't know if she would be able to do it.

She settled down the night with that thought in mind, but she wasn’t able to sleep. Her burns hurt too much. She looked around her, looking at the birds that passed by, and at the animals that woke up for the night. Her eyes fixated on two glowing eyes, eyes that looked like a possum’s. Only… only it wasn’t.

Those were Rose’s eyes.

How long had she been there? Catherine didn’t know. She only knew that the girl had seen everything, and despite the fact they were supposed to be against each other, she remained in her tree and didn’t even bother to come over to try and kill her. Instead, the little girl lifted her hand up and pointed at something over her head. Cath kept staring at Rose for a little longer, the twelve years old girl with blue eyes and freckled brown skin only a few shades lighter than her very own, before looking up.

A tracker jacker nest.

The wasps that, if you fucked with them and their nest, would track you down until you were dead. Which, explained their name. What the hell could she do with that? If anything, it meant she was in danger. Well, not immediately anyway, seeing they had yet to come out and attack her. They must still be asleep from the smoke of the fire. Cath bit her bloodied lip hesitantly, looking back at where Rose had been and found her gone. She must have run away already, knowing what she was about to do. God damn it.

She waited for the hymn to start playing, to climb up the tree, and use her knife to slowly start hacking at the branch and make it fall. Her hands were shaking when she had gone back down on her branch for the night once the hymn had ended. She would need to wait until morning, probably. Until then, it was waiting time. A lot of anxious waiting, her breathing fast from the tracker jacker nest right above her head, and the Careers and Lukas right at the bottom of the tree. And she still had her burns.

Well, not for much longer, as a small silver parachute made its way to her. She almost cried in relief at the sight of the treatment inside the small container. It was for her burns. She smiled shakily, muttered a small ‘thank you, bastard’, and treated her burns. Gabe hadn't given up all hope on her just yet, then. She shouldn't be this relieved about it, but considering she had barely listened to his advice recently and considering she had done a lot of stuff that she knew would have him tearing at his hair, this was a blessing of its own. This must have cost a ridiculous amount of money from the sponsors, too. As much as she disliked the Capitol, she supposed she didn't mind it too much in the moment.

In the morning, her burns looked better. They didn’t hurt just as much. Just in time, too, because she was about to finish her plan. She whispered Rose’s name, just in case she was still there despite not having seen her last night after her pointing at the nest, and when her blue eyes appeared, Catherine did a small sign at her that she would cut down the branch. Once Rose was gone, Catherine lifted herself up from her spot with a groan, dumped her stuff back in her bag, and climbed up to the nest.

Crack.

**Crack.**

_**Crack.** _

She ignored the stings she received from the wasps as she watched the nest slowly fall down, and shatter, causing a swarm of the jackers to, well… attack.

Sorry, Lukas.


	7. Part Seven

There are things that even the best of us cannot control, no matter how careful we are, no matter the decisions we take to ensure it does not happen. There are things that were supposed to happen, there are things that guide our steps every day, there are things that forge the path we are forced to walk. And for Catherine, one of those things were apparently the consequences that followed cutting down that branch that held the jacker tracker nest. She had tried fighting the hallucinations, but… it didn’t end well. Sure, she was able to get the bow and arrow from Glimmer before she was taken away, and Lukas pretty much saved her life, so things went well on that side, but… yeah, passing out and having violent nightmares because of the wasps was not the best thing to happen to her during the Games.

She had no clue how long she was out. She genuinely had no idea. She only knew that she probably hadn’t drank or eaten for a good day or two if the way her whole body felt meant anything. She was starving, there was a horrible taste in her mouth, and her whole body hurt to hell and back. On top of how she currently felt, she had no clue if the stings killed the people the wasps attacked. God, she hoped she hadn’t killed Lukas this way. She seriously hoped she hadn’t killed Lukas. He was one of her best friends, and the only reason he got stung was because he was _right there_ and she couldn’t afford wasting time to tell him to get the fuck away, especially considering the Careers had been too close and could have woken up. She couldn’t risk it. Though, he had seemed somewhat fine if the fact he told her to run away meant anything. He probably was still alive.

She hoped he was still alive.

She groaned as she got back up on her shaking legs, trying to stay up at all costs. She supposed it was what she got for passing out for a few days. She counted her arrows, she smiled in relief and even laughed at the fact she finally had a weapon she could work with. Sure, it was killing, but… as her father had told her, it was just like hunting. It was just like hunting. Become the predator, kill to defend yourself and those that go after Lukas as needed. She could work with all of that. But, if she wanted to even be in a state of fighting, she needed to take care of her… many wounds. Seriously, what the fuck. How did she get this many bruises under a few days?

Burns, cuts, bruises, stings from the wasps… the list went on. She seriously wondered how the hell she was still alive, even if she was very grateful to be. She didn’t want to die. Just… it was a wonder she hadn’t died of an infection just yet.

She treated her burns with the cream, which she had gotten from Gabe thanks to the sponsors, and tried putting some on the stings though it did nothing. Fuck. How the hell was she supposed to do anything with those if she had no fucking clue how to treat them? With a frustrated sigh and a groan, she just decided to wrap them the best she could. Make sure she couldn’t make them worse than they already were. The bruises, she could do nothing about besides wait them out. She had no ice to work with. Now… now it was finding water. And food. Because she had definitely lost the few pounds she had gained at the Capitol, her hips and ribs visible when she lifted her shirt. It was almost scary. She had never been this thin, even back at District Twelve. Or, at least, not from what she could remember.

So. Find food. She could do that as she walked back her steps, slowly making her way back to the body of water and hoping that the Careers still weren’t there, simply waiting for her to come back like a dumbass to kill her. She killed a bird on the way there, and she also was able to get a rabbit, and she sighed in relief. It should be enough to get her by for the day and maybe tomorrow if she was careful and didn’t eat it all like a madwoman. 

Thankfully, the Careers weren’t there when she got to the body of water. She was able to clean herself easily enough, she got the chance to wash her now short hair that she knew would probably have given a few girls heart attacks had it happened to them, and for once in a good while, she felt a little better. She didn’t feel like someone who had crawled out of the nearest grave, at least. It was better than she could ask for considering her situation. She was able to fill her bottle of water back up, and was no longer risking dehydration. So, yay for that. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened the last time. That had been a pain, and it had terrified her. She hadn’t wanted to die to something as trivial as water. Well. ‘Trivial’.

It was when she started cooking her food that things got interesting.

The crack of a branch.

Yeah, sure, it wasn’t much to the regular person. But to someone who was stuck in the Games, someone who has to fight for her life, the crack of a branch could be the only signal she would get to defend herself against her death. So, she took an arrow out of her quiver, tugged on the string, and did what she always did when she hunted.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Wait.

She breathed slowly, and when she finally realized who was there, she relaxed with a sigh and let the string relax. The arrow was still held tightly between her fingers, but she rolled her eyes and shrugged as she removed it from the notch and back into the quiver. There was the small shoe of a child that nudged a little bit outside of the shade of the trunk. Rose truly was like a shadow as she walked, wasn’t she? She flew through the trees, it was like she didn’t exist. No wonder she survived this long, and had gotten a high score from the Judges. She could survive a long time this way.

“You can come out from there, you know.” Cath laughed a little, waiting for the little girl to walk towards her. When she didn’t, her voice turned softer, and she smiled as reassuringly as she could. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I'm serious. We can talk truce, if you want... or an alliance."

“...You want to make an alliance with me?” Rose sounded a little in shock as she got out of her hiding spot, her freckled face shining from the light of the fire. Her blue eyes were wide in light shock, though there was hope behind the sparkle in them. Hope that maybe she could get a friend, if only for a little while. The Games were always lonely, after all. “...Why?”

“Well, you helped me with the jacker trackers. I probably would have died had you not pointed it out,” She said simply, with a shrug. It wasn’t a lie. It was far from a damn lie. She would have either died from being too close to the nest for their liking, or she would have died at the hands of the Careers. So truly, Rose had saved her life. This was a way to pay her back. “And you’re quite smart to have survived this damn long, considering everything. You hungry?”

A small nod.

“Come on. Sit down. I got enough for the two of us, okay? Don’t worry about it.” She pat the spot on the dead trunk next to her and smiled warmly as she watched the little come and sit down. God, she was small. She had obviously not stopped growing, but if her height meant anything, Catherine knew that if Rose had the chance to continue growing up, she wouldn’t be taller than 5’3. Two small girls stuck in the games. Hurray.

“...I can help with the stings.” She said after a little while, biting her lip as she went through her bag to get some leaves out. They looked a lot like some her father had stocked away, back home. She had no clue what they were for, but she supposed she knew now, didn’t she?

“Where did you find these?” 

“Around. We always gotta have some on us when we work in the orchards and stuff. They left a lot of those nests back there…” The little freckled girl shrugged lightly.

“Right. Uh... District Eleven. Agriculture, right? If you work in orchards, I bet that’s where you learned how to fly around in those trees like that. You looked like a little bird.” Cath smiled as the little girl beamed. Apparently, she had been spot on one of her sources of pride. She then made a little motion with her hand for the girl to come closer after that. “Alright, come on then. Show me what those leaves do, little flower.”

Rose got to work immediately after that. It surprised Cath a little that the girl fucking chewed the leaves before putting them on her wounds, but she supposed it was the best way to make the leaves effective right now. Her father had the best methods, but considering they were in the middle of Death Games… you had to do with what you got. Those things worked like magic. She sighed deeply in relief, and in thanks, Cath got her cream out to help Rose with the burn on her forearm. It was ugly, and she knew that it would help. 

“There you go.” She said softly, before scooting back.

“Thank you…” Rose sighed, and watched her forearm, where the cream was applicated and would start working on healing her burn right away. “You got good sponsors, y’know.”

“Do I now? Did you get anything?” Cath hummed and closed the small cream container. When she saw Rose shake her head, pretty much confirming that she had gotten nothing, her face fell a little. She still smiled for Rose’s sake though. “No, uh? Don’t worry about it. You’ll get something soon enough. Survive, and you’ll be good to go.”

“...Were you serious about the alliance thing?”

“I was.”

“Alright.” She stretched her hand out for a handshake. Cath took it and shook it lightly. “Deal.”

The rest of the night passed slowly. They taught each other what they knew, they showed the other what they had. It was this way that Catherine learned that the sunglasses in her bag weren’t actually sunglasses, but those special things that allowed you to see in the dark. Apparently, the Careers had two pairs, so she was pretty much really fucking lucky to have one right now. She supposed it would help survive a night or two longer, in this hell hole of an arena. On top of learning that, she learned that Lukas was alive. He wasn’t with the Careers anymore, but he was alive. Relief had flooded through her, and she had let out an audible sigh. When night finally properly fell, Rose and Cath were both huddled up in the sleeping bag when the hymn started playing, Cath having a protective arm around the little girl. She had a plan in mind, and she was so fucking scared it would hurt the little girl. Rose hadn't asked to be in there, like everyone else, and well... she was feeling especially of the small girl. She wished something else could be done, but if no moves were pulled... who knew what would happen.

The Careers’ provisions had to be taken out. They had to be given a handicap.

“....Hey, Little Flower?”

“...Yeah?” She answered quietly, still not moving from her spot against Cath. She was obviously close to falling asleep. She was just a child, after all.

“Are the Careers able to find ways to eat?”

“They don’t need to, with all the provisions they have.”

“Imagine they got nothing. How long do you think they’d hold on?” Cath whispered, biting her lip in thought. “Like… approximately?”

“I don’t know. And besides, it’s not like they are hungry.”

“Yeah. Which is why we’ve got to do something about it, Rose.”

God, she hoped she wasn't wrong about this.


	8. Part Eight

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Wait until the right moment, release the string from between your fingers, and allow the arrow to fly and strike true. 

Granted, this time it wasn’t a victim, or an animal, that she was shooting. No, it was a bag of apples, that she had already shot twice before. Shooting a bag hadn’t been part of her and Rose’s plan, but considering the new situation, she wouldn’t have been able to get near to set shit on fire. So, setting off the landmines set by the last remaining person of District Three it would be. She watched in slow motion as the bag ripped open, as the apples tumbled down on the grass…

...and set the world ablaze.

The explosion made the world shake. The ground was shaking from where she was laying on the ground, desperately trying to breathe in. She had been blown away, literally, by the number of landmines that had been set off. Her landing had knocked the air out of her, and her backpack had done literally nothing to help her. Though she was grateful that none of her shit appeared broken. She waited there for a few moments, trying not to scream in frustration at the fact that she couldn’t hear anything now. She was extremely vulnerable now, where the only thing she could rely on was her eyes. Her eyes weren’t enough in the Games.

Maybe a minute later, the earth finally stopped shaking. It finally stopped making her world spin from where she was, trying to catch her bearings again. Though, if that explosion meant anything, is that there was nothing left for the Careers to use. The plan had worked, just not in the way they thought it would. She tried getting back up, but that plan was quickly shot down if the way her world spun meant anything. She felt like she would throw up, as she allowed herself to fall back on her ass. She needed to move. She needed to move. That explosion would definitely bring something around, and it wasn’t something she wanted to see.

She flipped up her hood, tied it tightly as to not leave blood on the ground, and slowly crawled her way back to the spot where she had been before the Careers left. The spot Rose had shown her, the spot she had told Catherine that she wouldn’t be seen in. She would be safe to wait the pain away there. Two explosions later, and the world finally stopped shaking. Apparently, all of them had finally blown. She waited. Then, the group of Careers finally came back. Cato was angry. Crazy angry. This was the type of anger she had never seen before. Sure, she got pissed, and so did Gabe, which is often why they ended beating each other up a few times, but… what Cato was showing was like nothing she had ever seen. It almost felt dramatic. God, this guy had really tried and flirted with her, uh? Bastard.

The night passed by slowly. She waited right there, on the place of her crime. They seemed to think that the person who had caused it was dead, or at least was way ahead of them. So, apparently, hiding so close was a good thing. It offered her safety for a little longer, as she cleaned out her bloody ear, and allowed herself to eat. Her right ear was starting to buzz again, so this was a good sign. There was nothing from her left, though, and that scared her. Her earing could be her reason for life or death in the Games, and without it, she would need to rely on her eyes even more. Which, could be good or not. She just strongly disliked it.

At least, only a few people remained. The boy from One, the boy and girl from Two, Foxface, and the four people from Eleven and Twelve. Twelve being her, of course. So, Rose and Lukas were still alive. Thank God for that.

Though, when morning came, she decided she had to move. She couldn’t risk herself there longer. She knew it could sign her death warrant. So, she got up and moved. She hunted, she stopped at a source of water and properly cleaned herself and her left ear. Her hearing came back in her right, and she kept rubbing at her left as if water had been stuck in there and it was simply clogged up. Though, she knew it most likely wasn’t the case. That ear was dead until she died, or at least won and came back home. She had to win. She had to win. Though, that train of thought quickly fizzled out when she reached their meetup spot. Nobody had been there. Rose would have left mint leaves or something along those lines, a signal only them would have understood. Something simple.

By the end of the afternoon, that was when she figured something was wrong. Rose had never come around, and Cath decided that maybe looking for her wouldn’t hurt. So, she walked all the way to the third fire, and… she didn’t find it lit. Something had gone wrong between this one and the second one. She had to tell herself Rose was still alive, in one way or another, otherwise, she would have snapped. Rose could have stumbled upon wild beasts or another player like Thresh, and had to hide. Yeah. It had to be it.

She still decided it was time to hunt the little girl down if only to find her and make sure she was safe and sound.

She heard the little notes from the Mockingjay. The little notes Rose had shown her. She must be safe, right?

Until… until she heard a little girl’s scream. Rose’s scream. A chill went through her as she armed her bow and ran towards where she was.

“Catherine! Catherine!” It was scared, desperate. A little girl fearing for her life.

“Rose!” She continued running, though this time her panic was growing stronger. She had to get there in time. She had to get there in time. “Rose! I’m coming! Hold on!”

When she got there, Rose was stuck in a net, like a scared animal. She stretched her hands through the net, hoping for Catherine to grab it and get her out of there…

...but Cath didn’t have the time to do anything. The spear got to her before she could do anything. 

She shot the boy that threw it in the neck. She felt nothing as she did so. Perhaps that should have scared her, but she had something else to take care of.

“Rose!” Was all she could repeat, over and over again, as she dropped her bow and arrows to crawl next to the little girl. The boy had died near, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t bring herself to care. The boy had been the one that had shot that damn spear, the boy had been the one that had just injured a twelve years old girl, a little girl that hadn’t asked to be there. “You’re gonna be okay. You- You’ll be okay, I swear, alright? You’ll get out of there-”

“Is the food gone?” The little girl asked, taking Cath’s hand and squeezing it a little. She knew she wasn’t coming back from this. She knew it. And she seemed… she seemed so okay with it. She knew she was dying, and she had made her peace with it already. Twelve years old, and already about to move on to another world; one of rest.

“It is.” She assured, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She was failing. Miserably. This little girl, this little girl she hadn’t wanted to harm with her plan, was dying because of it. Someone had gotten to her before she could, and Rose was dying because of it. It was her fault. Just like with Lukas, this was her fault. Just another person who she had put at risk was on her list. The only difference this time around is that Rose would be the first person on that list to die. It was her fault. It was her fault. It was her fault. “There’s nothing left.”

“You’ve got to win,” Rose whispered. Her voice was already getting weaker. There was a canon shot, and Cath looked up for a moment. It was for the boy from One, obviously. But it hurt so much to know that eventually, it would be Rose’s turn to have a canon shot. 

“I will. For the two of us. I swear, okay? I swear.”

“Can you stay?” Rose asked. Her voice was shaking a little. While she may have accepted her death, the emotions that came with eventual death were still there. “I’m scared.”

“I’m not going anywhere, little flower. Okay? I’m staying right there.” Cath moved a little and removed the rest of the net before gently putting Rose’s head on her lap. She moved a few Rose’s curls away from her face, and played with them a little, hoping it would be comforting. 

“Can you sing me a song?”

Sing? Sing? Yeah. She supposed she could sing. She wasn’t… the best at it, but she had sung for her little brother back home a few times when he couldn’t sleep and their father was still working. Either in the mines and later on, when he picked up their mother’s work, healing whoever needed healing. It was always the three of them after the twins died and then Eva, and so… Catherine picked up singing, for when she needed it. What could she sing, though? What could relax a dying child, enough that when she slipped away, she would be as happy as she could be?

_“Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head and close your sleepy eyes  
And when again they open, the sun will rise_

_Here it’s safe and here it’s warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you”_

Her blue eyes were closing, as if she was just going to take a nap. As if she was just about to go to sleep, to wake up safe and sound later on. Though, her chest was rising, but only barely. Catherine knew Rose wouldn’t wake up after this, and she was crying from it. But she had to keep singing. She had to give this little girl her last wish.

_“Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, a moon beam ray  
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it’s morning, they’ll wash away_

_Here it’s safe and here it’s warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you”_

The last part was barely inaudible, drowned through her tears.

_“Here is the place, here is the place where I love you.”_

She could barely hear the canon through her sobs, her body shaking. She knew the forest was silent otherwise, and some part of her acknowledged the fact that the mockingjays picked the song back up for themselves, spreading it around them. She bent down, planted a quick kiss on the little girl’s forehead, the little girl that had been like family in the middle of this hell. She was gone. She was gone. She hadn’t deserved to die in such a horrible way.

Which might have been why she moved to pick the wildflowers near them. She covered the little girl in them, making sure that the wound especially was covered in them. Rose deserved to be picked up by the hovercraft looking as if she had simply died peacefully, and not a horribly violent death. She deserved that much. 

She was still crying when she had picked up her bow and arrows and started walking away, she was still crying when she stopped to listen to the hovercraft picking up the little girl, she was still crying as she started moving again. But, she had promised Rose something. She had promised she would win for the two of them.

So win, she would.


	9. Part Nine

“Lukas!” 

The scream felt like it echoed around her, though she knew it wasn’t possible. The simple word still rang in her ear, the simple word that she knew could have given away her location to anyone who had been too close. But could you blame her? The rules had been changed. Both she and he had a shot at this, now. They could both go back home, to their waiting families, they could both have a chance at going back to as normal a life as possible. They could both leave this behind and win. She wouldn’t have to kill her best friend if anybody else hadn't got to him first.

And… it would certainly help their case if they played the cursed lovers card a little more, wouldn’t it? She had mostly forgotten about that, though it had always nagged in the back of her mind from time to time. It had been kind of hard to pretend to be in love in the middle of murder games, and the fact that she _dumped a jacker tracker nest at his feet_ probably hadn’t helped their case. God damn it. She sighed as she set up camp for the night, biting her lip as the night slowly passed, with her getting little to no sleep. She needed to find that dumb motherfucker before somebody else did. She didn’t want him to fucking die. Not when now they could both win.

The thing was that there was still a lot of fighters left. There was Thresh, from Eleven, who was still alive and who she hadn’t seen during the whole duration of the Games. Whatever he was doing, it was good, because he was surviving with little to no problem at all. She hoped she wouldn’t stumble upon him, because it would be a pain to explain that the girl from his district, the little Rose, had been killed. That, and he looked really fucking strong and like he could snap her like a fucking twig. So, no thanks. There was Foxface still, too. Though she seemed to act at night, and so far her strategy looked a lot like running instead of fighting. Which, she could respect. She looked smart enough to survive this long just running. Then, there was the other duo left that could win this. The two people from District Two. They must be celebrating, now that they think they got an actual shot at this. They can try, though. She wouldn’t go down this easily.

She started her fire before leaving. She hoped that it would make whoever came here think she was hiding from them, make them think she wasn’t that far away. She hoped it would keep them away a little longer as she slowly started walking away from her camp, with a plan in mind. The last memory of him that she had, he had told her to run the fuck away, and Cato had appeared with a sword in hand. So, in one way or another, he must be injured. What bothered her, though, was the fact that if he was injured, how the hell had he survived this long? How the hell had he eaten and drank, and stayed alive? And, that’s considering the jacker tracker stings. That many stings should have killed him, but apparently, he was still alive. She took it as a blessing, though. She just hoped he was holding on. 

She froze in her spot, frowned, and then moved towards the nearest body of water she could remember. If he was this injured, if he was this hurt from everything that happened in the past few days, he would have decided to remain near a source of water so that he could drink at least, and possibly try and treat the wound. Lukas could be dumb from time to time, yeah, but he wasn’t that fucking stupid. In a game of survival, she knew he probably had some things Gabe had told him beforehand to keep him alive. After all, they must have talked without her hanging around, yeah? Especially considering their mentoring. And… he probably had received from stuff from him. There was no way she had been the one to receive all that stuff.

She walked in the river for a long time, humming a little as she smiled at the freshwater licking her feet. This felt good, despite everything. This was a small source of happiness in the middle of Hell. She walked for a long time, and when she reached the spot where the jacker nest was broken on the ground, she stopped for a little while, evaluating her next move. He wasn’t there, it was obvious. She doubted he continued moving towards the camp of the Careers. This would have killed him, especially considering how injured he probably was.

Then, came the moment she moved to the part of the forest she had barely explored. The river continued that way, so there were chances Lukas had headed that way, though she hated the space. There were rocks that kept getting bigger and bigger as she continued walking, and she felt oddly stuck in here. But, she had to keep moving. He could be there, waiting for someone to find him. She just hoped Thresh or even Cato wasn’t there. It would be a pain to fend them off in here. She continued walking, but froze in her tracks when she saw the dried blood on one of the rocks. It had obviously dried a long while ago, and someone had tried removing it obviously, but if the tracks meant anything, is that the person hadn’t been completely sane. Or not completely conscious. Maybe both, for all she knew.

“Lukas? Lukas where are you, you motherfucker!” She called, worry spiking harshly when no one answered. She hoped he had only moved when she started climbing back down from the rocks, and her feet had only touched the surface of the water when relief crashed on her at the voice that called back.

“You’re coming to finish me off, you dumb whore?” The voice called, weak. Though he had definitely laughed, and if anything, it reassured her a little. He must be… somewhat okay, if he was joking around right now. He had to be.

“Lukas? Where the fuck are you, I can’t see you.” She frowned as she moved near the voice. Had she imagined it? No, there was no way. There was only person she allowed to call her a whore, and that was him. She hadn’t even allowed Gabe, back home. She doubted her mind would call itself a dumb whore. Though… she might have had since she slowly have been losing her sanity. So, she continued moving, looking around, heart pumping hard in her chest.

“Down here.” The voice said, and Cath jumped back when she realized how close to him she was. She stared at the spot where the voice came from, and she laughed when he opened his eyes. The brown of his eyes, with the blue that was mixed in them, shone bright among the dull dirt and the green leaves that covered the ground. She truly hadn’t expected to see him camouflage today. Sure, she knew he had a talent at it since the training, but she truly hadn’t expected to see him doing it in the middle of the arena. She wondered how he even had the time to do that.

“Wow, look at yourself, all covered in shit.” She raised a brow, trying to keep her tone deadpanned before she fell in a fit of giggles as she crouched next to him. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough.” He shrugged, though he was smiling, too. Though… it looked strained. Tired. Definitely had been there too long. The sun must have gotten to him, and whatever wounds he had along with the stings probably didn’t help his damn situation. “D’you finally think icing cakes is a good enough of a damn hobby?”

“Eh, starting to consider it.” She joked, smirking a little as she took out her water bottle to make him drink a little. She bottled it after that and put it back in her backpack. “You’re stuck with me, now. Gotta keep your dumb ass alive if we want to go back home. Maybe you can get me a cake once we’re fucking safe. Where’s the wound?”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard. Also, no. You can buy that damn cake yourself.” He snorted, before sighing and moving his arm with a groan, definitely showing signs of having been in the same position for too long. Being on the ground didn’t help. He pointed at his leg weakly. “On the damn leg. A little high.”

“Alright, I’ll have to dunk you in the water and clean that up.” She sighed, and carefully put her bow and quiver down, before getting closer to Lukas to try and move him. She didn’t get the chance to, though because he apparently had something very important to say.

“Wait, wait hold the fuck on.” He said, and when she looked over to him, he just wiggled his brows, before breaking into a fit of laughter at the expression that was now decorating Catherine’s face. She looked absolutely done with his implications. “Okay, really. It’s supposed to be true love or whatever, so if ya wanna kiss, go for it.”

“I’ll think about it.” She said flatly. She knew they had to pretend it’s true love, she knew that, but she did not wish to kiss her best friend when she was gay as fuck, and so was he. She had no interest in that. None. She felt rather repulsed at the thought of it, actually, but she knew it would have to happen eventually. She just hoped that if they had to do it again, which she figured it would, it would get easier as they went on. 

It was when she tried moving him that things got a lot more complicated. The moment she tried moving him, his laughter was gone, instead replaced with a grimace. He was in pain, and it showed. He barely had the strength to get up, and the only thing he could do to help was not resisting when she tried lifting him up a little. It didn’t work, whines leaving his mouth at the pain, and she resulted to just. Dragging him. She had to stop again soon enough, though, seeing no matter how much he tried, he kept whining at the pain. Not that she blamed him. If she had gotten stabbed, she would be in bad pain, too.

“Alright, fuck it, I’m rolling you all the way over there.” She groaned, sitting down next to him to catch her breath. God, despite all the muscle he had lost from hunger, Lukas was still heavy as fuck. She would have little to no trouble lifting him normally, the archery definitely helping muscle wise, but some of her muscles had melted like snow in summer from the lack of food. She wasn’t eating enough to keep that muscle mass up, and some of it was gone. She missed it, especially now.

“You’re just gonna make the damn wound worse-”

“No I fucking won’t,” She argued, and got up to place herself in a proper position to start rolling him. She counted to three, took a deep breath, and turned him. Though she was only able to do it once, the whines changing for near screams from how much it apparently hurt. Shit. This was complicating things. “So. Change of plans. I’m washing you right here, apparently.”

Needless to say, she felt extremely awkward as she was washing him. She did not especially feel like seeing him in nothing but his fucking underwear, but if she wanted to clean him up and make sure no infections were getting anywhere, it had to be done. So, she pressed her lips tightly together the whole time as she worked, trying to keep her mind on the fact that she was just taking care of him. Just. Making sure he would live. As best friends do. Yup. Nothing awkward here.

After that, it was a matter of getting him to eat, drink, and take the damn fever pills things she had gotten in the first aid kit she had stolen off the body of the boy from One when she killed him. It was a fucking fight to get him to eat, but she finally got him to at least eat something light, and she hoped the whole time it wouldn’t immediately go right back out as she worked on his leg.

“God, Lukas, that looks like absolute shit. What the fuck did you do with it?” She gasped a little, but despite being a little dizzy at the state of it, she was able to not throw up and kept looking it over. The sword had obviously reached the bone, and it wasn’t pretty to see. It was a wonder he wasn’t dead from it, right now. He must have lost so much fucking blood.

“Just dragged my way over there, you know, as one fucking does.” He sighed. “Yeah, that’s not pretty to see. You didn’t sugar coat it.”

“Did you fucking want me to?” She raised a brow, and raised her voice in a pitch, as she brought her hands to her face. “Oh, Lukas! Look! It’s just a scratch, some leaves and it will heal right away!”

“I hate you.” He laughed, definitely joking.

“You love me, you absolute bastard.” She pulled her tongue at him, and with a sigh, got to work.

It would be a long night.


	10. Part Ten

Lukas’s leg only got worse.

No matter how much she cared for it, no matter how much she cleaned it, it only got worse. At least, Lukas had been able to eat. Gabe had sent them food after she went and fucking straight up kissed Lukas, much to her own disgust, and since then, she’s been trying to act a little more romantic in hopes that she would get medicine next. She, in fact, did not. No matter how much cuddling she did, no matter how many romantic things she did despite how repulsed she felt, the food had been all she got.

Well, for a time, anyway.

Lukas’s leg had gotten much worse. There were major signs of infection, and it had gotten to the blood. If she did nothing, if she didn’t get the medicine for it, Lukas was done for. He would die under her care. She was getting desperate at this damn point. She needed something to work with, but she got nothing. Until the announcement of the Feast, anyway. Lukas had tried to get her not to go, said some romantic words things she couldn’t remember, and she had said just as much, pushing through the urge to cringe. Yay to fake flirting for survival with your gay best friend. The only thing she got out of that was something to put that asshole to sleep from Gabe, and she sighed at the obvious sign of what she had to do. Thanks, Gabe. Real fucking helpful. Though it was a lot more than what he could have given, and she was grateful for it. So, she made Lukas take the damn thing, and felt a little bad at his look of betrayal when he realized he was being forcefully put to sleep.

He truly hadn’t wanted her to go, but it was for the best. She wouldn’t let him die, not if she could do something about it.

She spent the night in the cave, hugging her best friend during most of the night, though not being able to sleep. She didn’t know if she would die in her attempt to get that damn medicine. She didn’t know. Because some part of her knew that everyone else would come, some part of her knew that it would be where things got interesting. People would fight for what they can get, they would kill for the others not to get their own stuff. Then, after a little while, she moved away from the sleeping bag. She set things up so Lukas wouldn’t overheat while she was gone, she left some food and water just in case he woke up, and with a kiss to the forehead, she quickly left and moved rocks so that it hid the entrance to their safe haven. It was the least she could do while he was passed the fuck out.

When she got to her waiting spot, no one else was around. She was grateful for it, really. She would rather not kill someone right now or possibly get herself killed before she got what she needed. She didn’t need the hovercraft to point out what had been done so close to the site of the Feast. It was a cold morning, and she tightened Lukas’s coat on top of her’s. She was grateful she had taken both, now. Otherwise, she would be freezing in her spot. God, why did they have to make the arena so fucking cold? Was it necessary? She supposed not, but apparently, it gave good enough entertainment, because they kept fucking doing it.

For a moment, she was scared that she was at the wrong spot. She chewed on the mint leaves almost angrily as she stared at Cornucopia, wondering where the fuck the bags were. She hoped it wasn’t a joke. She hoped it wasn’t some elaborate trick pulled by the Capitol to get more fighting and more entertainment. She knew they were cruel, and she knew the kind of shit they pulled, but that would have been a limit. Promising something to someone and only getting fighting out of it, surely it would lose viewers. They couldn’t afford to lose them. So, she doubted it was a trick.

When the sun rays hit the golden Cornucopia, it was when things finally started moving. She supposed it made sense that they waited until morning, when the sun finally reached them. A long table covered with a pure white tablecloth raised slowly from the ground, and a few bags were on it. Two big black ones, one typed with the number two on it and the other with eleven, obviously for Thresh. What Thresh needed that was that fucking big, she didn’t know and she didn’t care. There was a green one for District Five, and finally, a tiny one. A tiny, orange one, that could slide down her wrist for her District. It was small enough to contain the medicine she needed, and God, she hoped it was medicine. 

The moment the table stopped moving was when Foxface moved. She jumped from the Cornucopia, having obviously hidden there for quite a long amount of time, and snatched her bag before running away. That was a smart move, and Catherine was a little irritated she hadn’t thought of it. God fucking damn it. It would have been so easy to just do that, snatch the bag, and run. She would have been back to Lukas more quickly that way, and she would be with him, not having to worry that another one of the Districts found him and killed him while she was gone. She would have heard a canon shot anyway, but some part of her wondered… would she find him dead when she went back?

Soon after Foxface was gone, she got up from her spot and started sprinting for the table. Hope guided her steps, and fear made her heart pump. She felt like prey again at that moment, as a knife went straight for her. She dodged out of the way, snatched an arrow out of her quiver, aimed and shot straight for the heart of Clove, the other girl from District Two. Clove dodged, much to Catherine’s irritation, though a small pang of satisfaction made her shiver when the arrow instead injured the girl’s left arm. Not her dominant arm, sadly, but it was better than nothing. It gave her the time to go to the table, grab the orange bag and slide it down her arm.

When she turned back, a knife was going straight for her, and left a nasty cut on her forehead. It bled profusely already, the blood dripping down her face and into her eye. God, this was fucking uncomfortable. Blood went in her mouth too and left a disgusting metallic tang behind, and the smell of the blood made her want to throw up. She had smelled it with Rose before, but this time, it was stronger, seeing the blood came from her. She tried shooting an arrow again, though the only thing it did was fly straight past Clove. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

Her breath was knocked out of her when she was slammed on the ground, and she coughed harshly. She winced when she felt Clove’s knees right on her shoulders. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t move. God, and she just knew that her death would be shown to everyone. She hoped for her father’s sake and her brother’s that it would be quick. She hoped they didn’t mourn her. She hoped that Gabe would be okay if she died, she hoped he wouldn't hide away. She hoped Cindy wouldn’t hurt too much at seeing her like this. She hoped that Lukas wouldn’t suffer too much, because the moment she would be gone, she knew that medicine wouldn’t get to him, and he would die, too. She wondered if she would get to see him, depending on what the afterlife was like.

“Where’s your little boyfriend from Twelve? Still hanging on?” Clove said, her tone of voice obviously mocking. She hated it. Just from the sound of things, Catherine just knew she wouldn’t get a quick death. Fuck.

“Eh, probably going after your boyfriend. You know, Cato? Yeah.” She huffed, rolling her eyes, trying to appear as if she was not bothered at all, as if she knew she would live. “LUKAS-”

A punch to her throat shut her right up, and it caused her to cough and gasp harshly to try and breathe.

“Fucking liar,” Clove smiled, a mix of satisfaction and cruelty. She knew that she had her prey where she wanted it to be, and there would be nothing to stop her. “He’s dying. I know. Cato got him. Suppose you hid him in a tree somewhere… what’s in that bag? Medicine for Loverboy? Figured. Such a shame he won’t get it.”

She opened her coat, showing off the number of knives she hid in there. How the hell had she not stabbed herself this way, seriously? What the fuck?

“I promised Cato that I would make your death one hell of a show,” She giggled as she took out one of her knives. One hell of a show, uh? Supposed she knew why. The thing at the training grounds, and finally the shit she pulled in the Games. Catherine wiggled, trying to get her to fall off, but Clove was too heavy and she obviously knew what she was fucking doing, because the way she was pinned down barely allowed her to do anything. “Give up, District Twelve. You’re done for. Just like your pathetic little friend… what was her name, already? Right. Rose. Yeah, we took care of her, too. As for Loverboy… well, nature will take care of it. What do you have to say to that? Now now, where are we gonna start…”

She wiped the knife on her sleeve as if to clean it, and with the same sleeve, removed the blood from Cath’s face roughly, before starting to tilt her head from side to side, as if she was only but a piece of meat she had hunted down, ready to be carved up and fed to the wolves. Which, in a way, she supposed she was. She hated it, though. Cath tried to bite her for it but the only thing she got out of it, was that whatever remaining hair she had left, having been cut properly back in the cave, was gripped roughly between Clove’s hands to slam her head back onto the dirt.

“Well, I don’t know for you…” She purred, eyes shining wildly in the sun. “That I’m gonna start with that pretty little mouth of yours.” 

Catherine only closed her eyes, refusing to scream as Clove passed her knife slowly down her cheek, leaving a good enough cut behind that she knew it would scar. Clove was almost teasing before she brought her knife to Cath’s lips and passed the knife over them roughly.

“I hope you had one last chance of kissing Loverboy goodbye because those lips of yours will be no good once I’m done with you!” She cackled, and Cath, maybe as a list spite attempt, considering she had received yet another fucking cut on her face now, spat on Clove. A mix of saliva and blood from the cut on her forehead. Her face turns red from anger from it, and some part of Cath is oddly satisfied because of it. Bitch. “Very well then. Let’s get to work!”

She closed her eyes even tighter, and when she felt the knife cut her lip a little, the only thing she felt was an incredible force knocking the person off her back. She opened them in light shock, her mind trying to make sense of what the fuck just happened. What the hell was that? She lifted herself up on her sore arms, and froze in fear at the sight that greeted her. Clove was stuck between Thresh’s arms. A silent scream left Cath’s lips, seeing that absolute beast of a man was literally standing right in front of her. He looked… stronger than when he had joined the arena. How that was possible, Catherine had no idea. He then threw Clove away, like a broken doll.

“What did you to the little girl?! You killed her?!” Thresh yelled, apparently not bothered by the fact that Clove was crawling away, scared out of her fucking mind. Cath hadn’t expected Thresh to be protective of Rose at all, but… her heart warmed a little because of it, through the fucking fear that was coursing through her veins.

“No! No, it wasn’t me!”

“I heard you say her name. I heard you. You killed her?” His face hardened through his anger. “You cut her apart? Like you were about to do with this one?”

“No! No, I…” She cut herself off and stared at the rock. It was the size of a loaf of bread, and he held it in his hands so easily, despite how heavy it looked. “CATO! CATO-”

Cato screaming right back for her could be heard in the distance, though he could have done nothing. Thresh used his stone, slamming it right on Clove’s temple. Her head was caved in, though she still seemed to be breathing. How that was possible, Catherine didn’t know. This should have killed her. This should have killed her. Thresh then turns towards her, the stone held high. She couldn’t run. There was no arrow in her bow. She was done for, that much she knew, as she was pretty much pinned under his golden-brown gaze.

“What did she mean? When Rose was your ally, your friend?”

“We… teamed up. To make their food blow up.” She said slowly, much calmer than she probably should have. The acceptance of her inevitable death was making her head spin. “I tried saving her, I really fucking did, but… God, that fucking asshole from One got there before I did.”

“Did you kill?”  
“The boy? I did. Her? I… I covered her in flowers, and I sang her a lullaby.” Her eyes were watering a little at the memory of it, but she managed to keep the tears down. It wasn’t the time to cry. Not now.

“...You sang her a lullaby?” His voice was filled with disbelief. Not that she could blame him. Who expected someone to sing a lullaby to a dying child, in the middle of the Games? But, apparently, she had done it. And, had she needed to, she would do it again. Though, she would have much preferred Rose to live.

“It was… it was her last will. She wanted to leave through a song. I don’t fucking blame her for it or anything…” She chuckled sadly and raised a hand to wipe at her nose. It only smeared more blood on it. There was so much of it flowing down her face. “After that… the people from your district sent me bread. Kill me quick. Please.”

“...Just this time. Just this time, I’m letting you go. For the little girl. You and me, we’re even. I don’t owe you anything. Understood?” He said slowly, lowering the rock slowly. Cato’s voice screamed again, this time it was nearer. “You should run, Girl on Fire.”

And she did. She ran, the fastest she’s ever had. Her quiver on her back, her bow in hand, and the small orange backpack on her arm. She pretty much flew through the forest and back to their cave, she pushed the rock away, and she crawled inside, despite her spinning head. The loss of blood was getting to her, but she had to do something first. She opened the bag, took the syringe out, and almost cried in relief when she slammed it in Lukas’s arm, knowing that fucking medicine would save her best friend. She wiped the flowing blood away from her cut cheek and forehead.

She took her hand away, saw how much blood covered it…

...and passed out.


	11. Part Eleven

Lukas healed. Thank fucking God for that. She didn’t know what she would have done had the medicine done nothing. Maybe have gone insane, who knew. Or maybe she would have died. Considering when she woke up, it was in a small pool of her own blood from the injuries on her face, it wouldn’t have surprised her if she passed away soon after Lukas did. But, no. They were both alive, and they both still had a chance at this. It was only a matter of surviving, and waiting and see who would be the last person to end before they could go home.

It was when Thresh died that they decided to start moving. Lukas was still very much injured, that much she couldn’t deny, but he could somewhat walk. He could still walk. So… they had made their way towards the lake, where they both knew something or someone would have been waiting for them. She didn’t know how long they waited there, waiting for a sign. They were like predators waiting for their prey. That’s what they had become. Predators. But… it wasn’t that bad, was it? It was just so they could go home. Yeah. Nothing bad with that. Both of them wanted to win, and go back to their families. She wanted to go back home, and see her best friend, and hope he wasn’t bitter then.

Then… Cato had come out of the forest and had run straight past them. Which, was odd. And her arrow had bounced straight off him, which was just as fucking odd. He had looked scared out of his fucking mind, and they could see for themselves because of what soon after that. Wolves. Not normal wolves, either. They looked bigger, and they looked smarter as they ran after them. The Capitol had obviously modified them so that they were more dangerous, and more of a threat to three humans. They were terrifying, and Cath just knew that she would have nightmares because of it. Nightmares that replayed those particular wolves, those wolves that looked so _familiar._

The realization came to her when they climbing the Cornucopia. 

To say horror was the only thing she felt would be a lie. It was a mix of horror, disgust, anger, and so, so much sadness. Those that had fallen to the Games had a right to have their bodies brought back home, where they would be buried near the people they loved. The Capitol had no right to take that away from them, change them into something they were not to hunt down more tributes. They had spent enough time in the Games, they had deserved a chance at rest. Rest they weren’t getting. 

She might have tried to take that anger out on Cato when he decided to threaten her best friend. He had grabbed Lukas, and dangled him over the edge of the Cornucopia, his legs dangling over the wolves. The injured one smelt so much like blood, she wondered how it didn't make the wolves more violent, really. Her hands shook a little as she aimed at him, her heart hammering in her chest as her vision turned red. She couldn't shoot him, or they would both die. Lukas and the asshole. So, she waited, grinding her teeth at Cato's laughter, though she did grin when she was given a hint to shoot at his hand.

Which, she did.

And she definitely smiled when she heard him suffer. Motherfucker deserved it for threatening her best friend. Though, she quickly had to ignore the screams to try and take care of Lukas. He was injured. Badly. If she didn't do something, this whole thing would be for nothing. Only one of them would go home if Lukas died. She didn't want to go home alone. She didn't want to. She didn't want to leave, a lone predator among the prey now. She needed someone else there along with her.

"You better stay awake, you fucking hear me?" She threatened a knot in her throat. She was terrified. Scared out of her damn mind. She hated it. When she saw him close his eyes a little longer than he should've, she pinched him harshly. "Stay the fuck awake, Lukas!"

"Cath, what the fuck-" He whined and winced, rubbing his arm where a red mark was already appearing. "I'm fucking trying, okay?!"

"You better be!" She hissed, and settled against him, if only for warmth. And the game of pretending. She still needed to keep that up. The night was settling, and Cato was still whining and screaming. It was less satisfactory now, and more disturbing and unsettling. "Why aren't they finishing him off?"

“I don’t know,” Lukas’s voice was weak, tired. His energy was sapping away, and the loss of blood definitely wasn’t helping his case. This only spiked her fear, and her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. He better stay alive. They were almost home. They were almost home. The hovercraft would come to get them, and he would be healed, and… everything would be good. Or, as good as they could be. “Maybe you should go finish him off or something. It’d be mercy.”

“He doesn’t fucking deserve mercy,” She argued, glaring at the nearest spot on the Cornucopia. Though… it would end everything faster. And if she moved at a certain angle, she could shoot from there without going down. It would end everything. She bit her lip. “My last arrow is holding your tourniquet. I can’t shoot him.”

“Cath, take it,” Lukas said simply. He sounded… resigned. At the glare he got, though, he huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll fucking hold on, just take the damn arrow Catherine, and be done with it.”

She sighed as she took the arrow away, ignoring the pang in her heart she got once the blood started flowing again. This wasn’t pretty. She had to be quick, put the arrow back. She was so fucking scared whatever blood he had would leave him under the minute or two it would get for her to shoot Cato down from where she was. Which, is the only reason why she was merciful with him. It was the only reason why she aimed for his head, and with a cold glare, let the arrow fly and go through his skull.

Lukas didn’t say anything when he helped her back up. They both knew he was dead, the canon ringing around them. It was over. Everything was over. It was only the two of them now, as a hole opened in the ground and the wolves jumped back in there. Cath’s heart tightened in her chest when she saw the brown freckled one jump back in, the smallest one out of the lot. That one had been Rose. Little Rose, the little flower, who deserved rest out of all of them. A child in an arena, a child that had been changed into something she was not and forced to fight. She wondered if she was angry at it all. Her situation, and angry at Catherine, for not being there in time. Some part of her knew it wasn’t true, she had asked her to sing to her after all, but the other part… the other part screamed names at herself, screaming that she was pathetic for not saving the child.

“...The hovercraft is not fucking coming,” Catherine commented, sitting there, her hands held tight in fists. Panic was rising in her chest now. The fear was gone. It was just pure panic. “Why isn’t it fucking coming?”

“...Let’s just move,” Lukas said lightly, tugging on Catherine’s sleeve, making her turn towards him slowly. “Maybe they just need to get the body or something. Okay? Let’s fucking move.”

“Think you can walk?”

“I can try.”

She had to help Lukas move from the Cornucopia and on the ground. She put an arm around his shoulders, and she helped him walk from there and towards the lake, slowly but surely. When he almost fell, she dragged him back up with a sharp reminder not to pass the fuck out, and they continued walking. When they got there… it was almost too peaceful. The mockingjays singing, the sound of the water rippling as they drank… it felt like something right out of a movie. The calm before the storm. It was odd, she supposed. Tears went to her eyes, though, when the hovercraft finally fucking appeared, and brought the body away.

It was over! 

It was over!

It was-

“Congratulations to our two finalists of this seventy-fourth edition of the Hunger Games!” The voice rang around them. Something was wrong. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach, and a sour taste went to her mouth. Something was seriously wrong. “The previous change to the rules is canceled. A deeper evaluation of the rules showed that there could only be one winner! Good luck, and may the odds ever be in your favor!”

Everything she thought was right just shattered around her, in a flash of white. It crashed and burned, leaving nothing but ashes behind as he body shook, anger moving like a ripple through her body. Her fists shook, clenched next to her body, and the world turned red around her. How dare they. How fucking dare they. They played them like a fucking fiddle as they usually did, and she hated that she hadn’t seen straight through it. She shouldn’t be surprised really, but she was and she hated herself for it. She held so much anger towards the Capitol. Not that she wasn’t angry before, of course. They had humiliated her best friend during his Games, they had killed countless of people, they allowed the poorer Districts to get hungry, and then they did that. They removed her hope from her hands and shattered it to pieces right in front of her eyes. How fucking dare they.

“Well, it’s not… that surprising, considering.” Lukas sighed deeply. He got up slowly, moved nearer, sliding the knife out of his belt, and before Catherine could even realize what she was doing, she armed her bow with the arrow she had found on the way there, laying on the ground. Lukas simply raised a brow and threw the knife in the lake, where it sank deeply into the water, never to be seen again. When she lowered her bow, Lukas just smiled sadly and shook his head. “Do it. It’s not like I’m gonna fucking live to see tomorrow anyway.”

“I’m not doing it.” She snapped, lowering her bow. Her face burned in shame, bright red, just like her vision. She was still so angry. Was this why she had considering even shooting her best friend? What kind of girl was she, what kind of girl had she became? Only a few weeks in this hell and she had lost all sense, the moment the Capitol changed the rules again as they always did, she was ready to fucking shoot the person that had kept her sane in this fucking arena. “I’m not fucking doing it. I refuse.”

“Cath, come on. I’d rather you than those dogs that went after Cato.”

“Then kill me then!” She shoved the bow and arrow in his hands. Angry tears went down her cheeks. Angry tears of resignation, fully knowing that she would die, leaving her family and best friends behind. She preferred it, she realized. She preferred it if it meant Lukas living a life he deserved. “Kill me and go home!”

“I’m not killing you either!” He hissed, and threw the weapons away. “I’m gonna die first anyway, because of that damn leg injury!”

“Then…” She frowned and waved at Lukas so that he came nearer. A plan grew in her mind. She hoped it worked. Otherwise? Well… it would only be a sign of rebellion against that damn Capitol. Which, they deserved. But, one thing she knew, is that they always had one winner. No matter the circumstances. They had almost brought one back from death if only to say they had a proper winner. The guy still died later on in his life, having gone insane, but he had lived for a little while. “Okay, we got one fucking shot at this. Remember the berries you found in the forest? The ones that were poisonous?”

“Yeah?” He frowned, and his mouth did a small ‘o’ when he saw her bring them back out. Those were the berries that had killed Foxface, the ones that she had kept for Cato just in case. This would do nicely. She put some in her hand, and she put some in his hand. He knew what her plan was. He sighed, nodded, and looked at Cath. “On three?”

“On three.”

**One.**

Raise the hand.

**Two.**

Open your mouth. 

**Three.**

Eat-

“Stop it!” The guy screamed, the guy that animated the Games the whole time. His tone was desperate, and Cath felt a pang of satisfaction when she spat her berries out of her mouth. Lukas did the same soon after that. “Stop it! Ladies and gents, I have the privilege to present to you the winners of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games: The tributes from District Twelve, Catherine Harrison, and Lukas Rivera!”


	12. Part Twelve

A glass door separated her from Lukas, on the hovercraft.

They were safe, now, she supposed, but her brain refused to acknowledge that fact. Some part of her was still screaming, telling her that all these people around her wasn’t normal, that they would bring out a weapon at any moment to kill her, that this was the last fight the tributes went through before finally being home, that this was the last trial. And, considering she had pretty much found a way to break the rules, it wouldn’t surprise her if the Capitol definitely tried to kill her now, as she slammed her palms on the door, screaming to be allowed to get nearer. This was her best friend. Her best friend on that table, fighting to stay alive through the surgery. 

His heart had stopped two times, already, and she was so tired when she allowed herself to slide on the floor, her hands going to grip at her hair. She didn’t feel safe, yet she knew she should be. She stayed like that for a long time, and when someone brought her a drink, she didn’t drink. She just gripped it in her hands so tightly she wondered if the crystal would shatter between her fingers. Orange juice was in there, ready to drink, bring her back to reality and safety… but she refused to drink. She couldn’t drink. Her stomach churned at the thought of accepting food from them, especially in those conditions.

When she looked back up from the drink, she nearly jumped at the sight in the mirror. She barely recognized herself. Short hair, sunken in cheeks, with one on its way to scar badly. She was so dirty, it was a wonder she hadn’t ended up with an infection. She looked like a savage. She supposed Gabe was right, way back then, when he had told her that the people from The Seam were savages. The sight in the mirror certainly confirmed that fact. It was what she was; a savage gone crazy, a savage that had become the predator the Capitol wanted. She hated herself for it.

When they finally got to the Training Center, Lukas was the first one brought off the hovercraft. No matter how much she screamed, no matter how much she fought against that damn door, they didn’t let her come with. When she thought she would be allowed to walk off and go with her best friend, the only thing she got was a shot on the back, making her fall into a deep inky darkness.

One she was more than happy to get out of, when she woke up again, feeling like absolute shit.

Though, she supposed being able to hear out of her left ear was a nice bonus. She didn’t feel like she had one ear completely filled with water at all times anymore, thank fucking god for that. Though, trouble came around again when she realized she couldn’t sit up, something holding her down against the mattress. God damn it. She supposed she deserved that one after the shit she pulled back in that hovercraft, but she still hated it. She didn’t calm down until she learned that Lukas was safe, and even then, she was still slightly restless. When she was allowed to finally change, the first thing she did after that was run out of her room, looking around the doorless walls, and a scream left her lips.

“Lukas?” She called out. It echoed around her in an almost uncomfortable way, and she winced a little to it, her new ear still getting used to louder sounds. “Lukas, are you there?”

Though, it wasn’t Lukas that called her name back. It wasn’t Lukas, and she was almost irritated when she spun on her heel, the usual reaction that came with Effie’s voice. Though… she did freeze in place at seeing who was there. Effie, Fritz, and… Gabe. Gabe was there. Of course, he fucking was there, why wouldn’t he be? She was still scared as she speed-walked her way towards them, though there was also hope. Hope that he wasn't angry anymore, that he wouldn't push her away, that she would be able to truly have her best friend back again. Because he had been gone during the week of training she had. Needless to say, she was more than relieved to see he was back when she hugged him first, and she felt him return it just as tightly.

“You’re an absolute motherfucker, you know that?” She whispered, not bothering to move.

“So I’ve been told.” His voice wasn’t as cold. Relief made her sigh when she moved away, though before going to hug Fritz, she did bother to leave a flick on his stupid fucking forehead. He deserved way more, but she was in a… somewhat better mood now that she was safe, and she decided that slapping him upside the head after having been forcefully put to sleep on the hovercraft wouldn’t have been her smartest move.

“Where’s Lukas? He’s safe, right?” She asked, hugging Fritz quickly, before moving back, crossing her arms in worry. Her voice cracked at what she would say next, though, the possibility still big in her mind. “He’s alive?”

“Oh, he’s completely fine,” Fritz assured, and they looked towards Gabe out of the corner of their eye before smirking. “More than fine if the way your mentor and he greeted each other meant anything.”

“...What the fuck does that mean?” Cath looked slightly confused as she looked at Gabe, before going back to Fritz, lifting a brow.

“Well…” Fritz realized they couldn’t really say anything considering the Capitol was filming, but they did wiggle their eyebrows in a very obvious suggestion at Cath, who snorted, though looked… less than surprised. Considering they had spent a lot of time together when they were still in training, it made sense. While she was giggling, Fritz received a good smack behind the head to get them to shut up. They rubbed the back of their head, before shrugging. “But. Come along, now. I’ve got to prepare you for the interview.”

Getting prepared… was about just as enjoyable as she remembered. In some weird way, she was happy to see these weird colorful crows start working on her again, talking about what they had done to her. Apparently, she had gotten a full treatment to remove her scars, except the one on her cheek, since the viewers had seen it, and apparently they couldn’t remove something the public now associated with you. So, she was stuck with that for the rest of her life, a harsh reminder that Clove had tried killing her in the worse way possible.

But… she would be fine now. She would be fine.

The dress on her… it made her look younger than she was. And more innocent. Which was hard to do, considering she was scarred, and her hair was cut so short on her head. It shouldn’t have done anything other than make her look like an adult woman pretending to be a child, but… it indeed made her look younger. She looked like a walking candle flame, as she walked around in her dress. A small flame, one that hadn’t been blown out by the games. One that refused to go out, one that would keep burning bright for as long as she could. One that would bring light to others.

She supposed it was what the Girl on Fire persona was supposed to be.

When she was brought to the place under the stage, the place that would lift her to the crowds, to forever admire and chant for, nervousness came back to her. She would be seeing Lukas for the first time since the arena on that stage, and she would need to pretend to be madly in love with him again. She hoped that pressure wouldn’t ruin the whole imagery. She waited there, hands sweaty next to her body. The strong smell of paint made her want to cough, so strong she wondered if she would pass out from it. This had to be toxic in one way or another.

“Cath?” A voice called out, and when she spun around, she was a little confused at seeing Gabe there again, but she was still lightly relieved at seeing him there. He smiled at her, though… some part of it seemed fake. Fake with what, she didn’t know. “Let me see you.”

She did a little spin, the dress shimmering around her, making it seem like a flame rising high.

“Not bad.”

“Not bad?” She raised an eyebrow, and brought one hand to her hip, the other dangling next to her body. “Not bad? Thanks, Gabe. That certainly helps my self-esteem.”

“Oh, fuck off.” He rolled his eyes, before looking around the darkness. He seemed to have taken a decision when he brought her in another tight hug, though this one didn’t feel like a greeting, like the first one she had gotten. This one was different. Maybe a little scared. She knew why soon enough, as he whispered softly, soft enough she knew no one near would hear. “So, The Capitol is fucking pissed with you right now. They didn’t like your little trick with the berries, it made them look stupid.”

“Alright, alright…” She laughed a little, hoping it sounded real despite the fear that was coursing through her. “What am I supposed to do about it?”

“So, convince them you were madly in love and wasn’t thinking straight.” He pulled away, and fixed her headband a little, with a sigh. “Understood, Catnip?”

“Yeah, yeah. You told Lukas?” She asked, and fixed the stupid tie he had on. She raised a brow at him, having fully understood what Fritz had implied back there. There was something between the two of them, and she found it… a little amusing. She was happy for them, of course she was, but… God, his expressions must have been priceless all the times she fucking kissed Lukas on screen, for the game of pretending. She never enjoyed those times, but now she would at least a good memory attached to them, the idea that Gabe might have gotten a little irritated at this whole pretend game. This is best friends for you.

“No need.” He shrugged, and at the look that was on Cath’s face, he smacked her behind the head a little. “He’ll know what to do.”

“Oh, and I won’t?” She raised a brow and moved back. She was obviously faking being hurt, though, some small part of her was. She had been planning on continuing the pretend on stage, but… she supposed she would have to do more now. God damn it. She wasn’t kissing him on stage in front of everyone else. “I’m hurt. Truly, I am. My heart has been shattered and it will never be healed again.”

She was brought to the metallic circle after that, and he left soon after. She wished her dress was a little longer as she tried to fix it, her legs shaking a little in fear. She supposed this ruined her mood a little. This was supposed to be the night she was crowned, this was supposed to be the night where it was confirmed that she would be going back home. This was supposed to be her last night, the night where she was… she supposed it was the night she should be celebrating. But not now, as she was slowly raised on the stage to the clapping and cheering of the crowds, the sound almost deafening. Despite Lukas being near her, despite knowing full well he was on that other side of the stage, she felt… alone in that moment.

Maybe because she only now realized that the arena had only been the first part of the Hunger Games.

Now, the Games truly began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy! Hope you all enjoyed the read!
> 
> So, the second book of this series is called The Hunted, and is now published! I'll be updating it slowly but surely, so watch out for that!


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